Plymouth Youth Initiative

Billiards & Snooker Youth Initiative 2006

Plymouth Youth Initiative Launch 2006

Ian Thompson (Devon Community Foundation) presenting a cheque for £6,947 to WEBSF Champion Roger Cole and Head of Coaching Steve Canniford, surrounded by some of the youth that will benefit from this grant

Report

The development of Junior Billiards and Snooker in Plymouth is about to take a huge step forward as a result of a £6,947.00 grant from the Local Network Fund through the Devon Community Foundation. The realisation of the grant was made possible by the management team and volunteers of the West Of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation (WEBSF) The funding will go towards regular Saturday morning Billiards and Snooker sessions over a period of thirty three weeks beginning in the School Holidays. The venues chosen are, the Victoria Snooker Centre, St Budeaux and Rileys, Courtney Street, Plymouth. The scheme will be known as the Plymouth City Billiards and Snooker Youth Initiative coaching will be free of charge and open to all Juniors who have a desire to learn the skills of Billiards and Snooker. On hand will be a WEBSF accredited coaching team all of which have undergone Good Practice & Child Protection training and checks with the Criminal Records Bureau. The WEBSF believe this is an essential part of a coaches qualifications. This will go towards assuring parents that the WEBSF take child protection seriously when providing a safe and secure environment.

Roger Cole of the WEBSF said “The Plymouth City Billiards and Snooker Youth Initiative is just the beginning of a long term development programme for the City and the Region. We hope to attract further grants in the future along with additional support from local and regional businesses to help realise our mission. This will not only provide the opportunity for the youngsters to enjoy learning our sport it also plays a significant part in the teaching of numeracy and literacy, which is very high on the schools agenda to meet government targets. We firmly believe that the WEBSF can assist the community in the development of the youth through the plating of Billiards and Snooker which will not only benefit the children taking part but also encourage parents to become more actively involved with there child’s development.”