- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- People and Places
- Release date:
- 2 5 2008
For most people, the words ‘pigeon racing’ or ‘pigeon fancying’ conjure up images similar to that of Coronation Street’s Jack Duckworth tending to his roost in the back garden.
However, the image of pigeon racing as a hobby for the older man is being turned on its head in one South East Wales community as part of a cash injection of over £3 million for projects in Wales from the Big Lottery Fund’s People and Places programme.
A total of £3,195,150 has been awarded to sixteen projects throughout the country which all aim to bring people together to make communities stronger and to improve rural and urban environments.
With the £17,000 they were awarded, the Hanbury Arms Racing Pigeon Club in Hanbury, Torfaen, will set up the Hanbury Pigeon Club – Young Members Scheme. The club has been running for over 50 years and the project will serve the local community of Abersychan and will involve youngsters in the clubs activities and promote the activities through workshops in schools and to local groups. The aim of the project is to improve social networks, strengthen community bonds and address intergenerational issues.
The innovative project will work with children, young people and lone parent families who are disadvantaged through lack of facilities and opportunities in the area. The project will also create new sport and leisure opportunities for youngsters and provide them with the chance to develop new skills through their involvement.
According to the Club Vice Chair, Malcolm Anslow, the need for the project was identified after a weeklong pilot festival - which demonstrated that young people wanted to be a part of the club.
“Two years ago, we went into the schools and we found that there was a huge amount of interest in pigeon racing among the youngsters,” explained 72 year-old Malcolm, who joined the club when he was 10 years old.
“As part of the project, we asked youngsters with special needs to draw pictures of pigeons and some of the pictures were truly fantastic. We now plan to get involved with the two local youth rugby team and other schools.”
Volunteers and young people will be involved in the running of the project in a number of ways. As well as getting youngsters involved with pigeon racing itself, the innovative project will also work with schools to run workshops and competitions on pigeon racing and on the history of pigeon racing in the area. A newsletter for young people, 'the pigeon post', will be created and poster competitions will be run to sponsor a pigeon and workshops will also be set up for the youngsters.
“The other good thing about the project is that it gets youngsters involved with nature and wildlife and gets them out into the open to enjoy the fresh air. It will be both fun and educational for them at the same time,” explained Malcolm.
Bridging the generation gap between young and old and help them to develop a mutual respect for each other is another key element of the project. “Our oldest member at the club is an 83 year old D-Day Veteran and our youngsest member is 12 years old,” said Malcolm.
“Youngsters have so many other toys, computers and gadgets to keep them occupied today and I suppose they haven’t realised that we’re here. In Belgium on the other hand, pigeon racing is like a national sport and scientists there are even developing rings which can be tracked by satellite, similar to the navigation systems available in cars today. With electronic timers and other innovations, pigeon racing is finally joining the modern era and I hope this project will get more young people involved with our club and keep it’s rich history going for future generations to enjoy.”
Commenting on the positive impact the award will have, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee Member and Chair of the People and Places Committee, Janet Reed, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales. The programme delivers on our promise to use Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy. This award will have a positive impact on the lives of many people in the community and I’m sure it will continue to do so for years to come.”
For further information about the People and Places programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk and use the ‘Wales’ specific search facility.
Contact information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office – Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
Notes to Editors:
- In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
- The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 250,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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