News, February 2008

The Junction’s Morfa Retail Park tackles Sports for Schools initiatives

The Junction's Morfa Retail Park is co-sponsoring the Osprey's rugby development scheme that aims to promote a healthier and more active lifestyle across schools and clubs in Swansea through an integrated programme of community initiatives led by the Ospreys rugby team. Ospreys have recently recruited Community Development Officers who will work in the Community with the players to promote sports participation to all, whilst also promoting the benefits of sport in teaching children the importance of team work, respect and sportsmanship. As well as the Community Development Officers, there are more than 20 international players within the Ospreys squad, who have pledged their time to work with schools to promote the initiative. These include Justin Marshall (All Blacks), Shane Williams, Gavin Henson, Duncan and Ryan Jones (all of Wales and The British Lions), James Hook (Wales) and Stephen Terblanche (South Africa). John Gatley, Managing Director at The Junction comments "We are delighted to be part of this community initiative and, as part of our ongoing Responsible Business (RB), we are committed to becoming a key player in the local areas surrounding our retail parks. One aspect of our strategy in Swansea is to promote healthy and more active lifestyles for children, and this scheme, leed by Ospreys is a great way of achieving this." Paul Thorburn, Strategic Development Manager at Ospreys said: "This is fantastic news that will have significant impact on the far reaching community work that has been at the heart of everything we have achieved at the Ospreys in our short history to date. The financial support received via the Sportsmatch Cymru scheme, in conjunction with npower renewables and The Junction, Morfa Shopping Park, give us an increased budget for the many valuable projects that benefit communities in every corner of Ospreylia." The initiative has also benefited from a £27,000 cash injection from the Welsh Assembly Government funded Sportsmatch Cymru scheme, managed by the Sports Council for Wales. Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, Philip Carling, said, "This is a great example of how Sportsmatch Cymru has enabled a project to double its effectiveness and deliver something special in the community. Businesses in Wales can play an instrumental part in developing community sport and physical activity opportunities for people of all ages and abilities. The investment that will go into developing volunteers and opportunities for women and girls in sport in particular will be invaluable for the wider Ospreys region and we are delighted to be a part of it." The Junction will be co-sponsoring the event with npower renewables.