A celebration of Sported and Parr Sports Community Centre
By Sported | 12th April 2022
The relationship between Sported and Parr Sports started back in 2016: six years on, we celebrate their inspirational story.
Parr Sports have been part of the Sported network since 2016, where their journey started with the introduction of one of our fantastic volunteers, Derek May. At the time, they ran as Wildcard ABC and offered boxing in the local community. They operated from a single, hired room in a youth club and were in need of major funding to grow their services.
With the help of Derek, Sported North West Regional Manager, Rehana, and a lot of hard work and dedication, the group has seen phenomenal change and growth in the past few years. Parr Sports was set up as a separate charity to run and manage the centre (via an asset transfer), and since then they have developed a strong business plan, re-branded, bolstered their governance and legislation and became pros at funding applications. Through numerous grants they were able to take on a new property and carry out extensive refurbishments.
This has been a big journey for Steve, a trustee at Parr Sports:
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“The level we have reached now, as a business, compared to where we were just 3 years ago is nothing short of a miracle.
In our wildest dreams we never dreamed of reaching a 6-figure sum in such a short space of time. None of this would have been possible without your help Rehana or that of Derek. Thank you both from the bottom of our hearts.”
Dom, Wildcard ABC boxing coach and Parr Sports trustee added:
“We were always going to succeed; Sported saved us 15 years of mistakes until we got there.”
Despite some challenges, and lessons, Parr Sports went from strength to strength and built up a number of new provisions, truly positioning themselves as a community hub. This included a café offering a range of healthy foods, OAP activities, fitness sessions and training courses.
At the start of 2020, along with everybody else, Parr Sports were forced to close their doors because of Covid-19. However, they were able to respond and adapt and have emerged even stronger. Steve, Dom and the team have lots of exciting plans for the future and are on track to be financially sustainable from revenue by 2024.
At Sported, we are so proud of the work that Parr Sports have done and we look forward to our continued partnership.
2016
Wildcard ABC began their support with Sported. Working with volunteer, Derek May, they built a business plan and a case for the asset transfer of a local authority building.
They were helped to set up a separate charity - Parr Sports to manage and develop the centre.
20162018/19
The asset transfer was successful and through further guidance on funding applications, Parr Sports were
able to secure a number of major grants for refurbishments and business development.
The centre underwent a lot of work, including the addition of a community café and creation of a multi use games area to deliver activities and generate
income.
2020
On-going support and further funding meant they were able to create a strong community hub, with a mix of sports and physical activities, and additional services for the community, linking it with local partners.
20202020 and beyond
Although COVID-19 caused Parr Sports to shut their doors, they continually adapted, updated their business plan and now offer over 15 services to 2000 members of the community every week.
2020 and beyond