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Generali Worldwide has continued its support of the Guernsey Sports Commission’s work on the Island by pledging more funds to the charity. A donation of £90,000 has been made to the Commission and the funds will be used over a three-year period to benefit coaching and community sport participation at all levels.
Generali Worldwide has made the donation to help the Commission bring the maximum benefits to the widest possible audience. Plans on how the donation will be used are currently being finalised -activities to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, engaging more girls in sport, youth outreach and coaching programmes are all in the pipeline.
‘Generali Worldwide has been involved in local sport for some years now. As well as the Guernsey Island Games Association sponsorship, we have worked with the Sports Commission on community programmes like Get Active and the high performance Rising Stars initiative. We have been impressed with the breadth of the Commission’s work over the last 10 years, which benefits so many different people and groups in the community in Guernsey,’ states Giorgio Daboni, Chief Executive Officer of Generali Worldwide in Guernsey. ‘We believe this donation will benefit people of all ages, sporting interests and abilities and extend the great work they do with other community groups, such as the Youth Commission.’
In line with the Commission’s aim of ‘more coaches, better coaches’, a portion of the money will be funneled into enhancing the effectiveness and expertise of Guernsey’s coaching community. ‘We are fine-tuning a coach development plan which will benefit coaches of all levels. Our plans will have a positive impact on people helping sports at grass-roots level in clubs across the Island, as well the coaches working with our high performance athletes,’ says Tim Newenham, CEO of the Guernsey Sports Commission.
‘We know that having more coaches and better coaches has a positive and long-term effect on sports participation and performance standards. This donation will help to strengthen the work we are doing in this area. We will be engaging with our new coach mentors to leverage the expertise we have on the Island and also looking at education opportunities for all coaches. Additionally, we want to provide more opportunities for our ‘Level 3’ coaches to further develop their careers.’
As well as the coaching initiatives, the donation will also be used to boost a number of community sports programmes that will be accessible to a broad section of the population. Generali Worldwide has previously sponsored the annual Get Active programme, which last year offered 90 free sports and activity sessions designed to encourage more people to try out new sports.
“We are looking at how we can develop this successful programme,’ explains Jenny Murphy, Sports Development Officer. ‘We will now be able to make this a more regular initiative with hopefully something for everyone to try. Additionally, we are looking at more activities for young people and will also be focusing on getting more girls and women active.’
‘This very generous donation means we have been able to put long-term plans into place around coaching initiatives and also allows us to reach more people with an enhanced and extended programme of community activities. We can also introduce new initiatives that can benefit all islanders and get even more people enjoying the benefits of an active lifestyle,’ says Mr. Newenham.
More details about activities which will be supported by this donation will be confirmed over the coming weeks. The donation is part of Generali’s commitment to sport on the Island, which also includes sponsorship of the Guernsey Island Games Association.
