Supported by Sported:
Online learning and tailored support from Sported that supplements the assistance available from other organisations has helped Gloucestershire-based Phoenix Weightlifting shoulder a greater load.
“It’s good for children and adults,” says Andrea Pack. “It’s good for mental health. I think it’s just good for that feelgood factor. And just really feeling part of something as a community.”
Weightlifting, if you’ll pardon the pun, has proven adept at taking a load off people’s backs in one corner of Gloucestershire.
Founded in 2018, Phoenix Weightlifting has extended its reach beyond the building it shares with a cheerleading academy and other physical activities.
Into schools, building a local infrastructure that dovetails with its status as a developmental Inclusion Academy for the sport’s governing body, British Weightlifting.
Injecting life lessons for the young people involved as a grassroots level.
All while trying to grow and expand its reach so that more kids can reap the benefits.
“We’ve kind of outgrown the space,” Pack underlines. “Looking for premises has been a quite a difficult challenge really, just for people to understand what we’re about and what we’re doing.”
Supported by Sported since 2023, the difference Phoenix makes within its community is a prime example of where the charity dovetails into the help provided by organisations such as National Governing Bodies and England’s network of Active Partnerships, says regional manager Kathryn James.
Offering help that cannot be accessed elsewhere – free of charge.
“It’s about combining resources, it’s about sharing best practice. It’s about where Sported can offer additional support and services and knowledge where perhaps an Active Partnership doesn’t have that.
“Often, it’s not just about writing down a plan and some actions.
“What a group really wants is to be able to get feedback on it, to talk about it, to be challenged, having some trusted relationships, whether that’s myself in the region, or a volunteer mentor, or a combination of both to support them. So that’s what we try and put in place.”
Sported Support
Seeing what Phoenix achieve meant it was a project worth backing, underlines Simon Glehill, one of Sported’s pool of Volunteer Consultants who inject professional expertise into community groups over short and long-term periods.
“What I think is just amazing, though, is the enthusiasm and excitement and passion that Andrea is bringing to whatever it is they’re doing,” he claims.
“She’s just totally focused on the assignments.”
As a small group with all the resource constraints that implies, Sported’s range of in-house webinars and information on its digital Hub, such as a course on social media, have been invaluable, Pack adds, as well as a coherent plan of assistance.
“The support they’ve given us has been brilliant … just dealing with the general stuff that we’ve had to deal with,” she said. “It’s given me the confidence to be able to do stuff now.
“And obviously for the club, that’s beneficial.”
“The support Sported has given us has been brilliant … just dealing with the general stuff that we’ve had to deal with,” she said. “It’s given me the confidence to be able to do stuff now.”
– Andrea Pack, Phoenix Weightlifting
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