Archive News
What has the local news had to say about Westbury Swimming Club in the past? Any press coverage that we are aware of will be uploaded for you to view here whenever you want.
W.A.S.C. Bag Pack
On Saturday 24th April some of the swimmers from the intermediate and senior squad took part in a bag pack at Morrison supermarket in Westbury. All involved had lots of fun and wore their WASC T-shirts proudly.
We were able to raise awareness of our swimming club and raise £330.00.
A big thankyou to all the helpers, the staff at Morrisons and the shoppers who gave generously.
The people who took part were Sammy, Millie, Hannah, Amy, Sophie, Lydia, Jude, Lauren, Hazel, Peter, Ruby, Bernice, Catherine, Paige.F., Amber, Anna, Caitlin, Rachel Pickford, Sally Gould, Helen Jones and Ann Brown
Summer Moonraker League 15.5.10 at Trowbridge
More Success For Westbury Swimmers
At an exciting first Summer Moonraker Gala held at Trowbridge on 15th May, Westbury’s team recorded an array of fine performances.
Fielding a team which was on average younger than their opponents, Malmesbury, Swindon ASC and Durrington, Westbury managed to finish in a clear second position overall after the 50 event competition, behind Durrington.
Swimmers were urged on by enthusiastic support from team-mates and a packed crowd and the team went on to record a total of 35 individual personal bests and won 14 of the evening’s events.
Final results were Malmesbury 105 points, Swindon 115, Westbury 133 and Durrington 145.
Well done to everyone who took part, especially to all those swimming (and sometimes managing to win!) against older and bigger opponents.
The second round of the Moonraker Summer Series will take place at Malmesbury on 10th July.
Lottery Joy for Swimming Club
Westbury Swimming Club members are celebrating following the award of nearly £10,000 from Awards for All at the Big Lottery Fund.
On Tuesday evening, guest of honour, Sue Ezra Mayor of Westbury and committee member Neil Tribick, happily handed over the cheque to Club Senior coaches Sandra Pearce and Stephen Pyne.
Chairman Mark Hanney believes the award represents a major step forward for everyone at Westbury Swimming Club. He said “This is a terrific boost for our Club and I’d like to thank the Lottery for their support and especially Neil Tribick for the hard work he put into the successful application.”
Earlier this year the Club embarked upon a sustained campaign to rejuvenate its fortunes including promotional leaflets to local schools, local letter box drops, and school presentations and the Lottery application. These initiatives have proved a success and membership numbers have risen by 35 since April.
The Lottery application was made in March. To qualify for the award the Club had to demonstrate that its application met a number of criteria including an explanation of how the Club intended to raise funds independently (such as the recent highly successful sponsored swim) and specify what the funding would pay for. The award has delighted everyone at the Club. Mr Tribick said “Equipment like starting blocks and turning boards for use in training and competitive swimming are very expensive and a small club like ours can’t afford to replace them very often. The equipment we have been using up till now is pretty old and has never been ideal. The Lottery award will pay for brand new blocks and the like and all the swimmers will benefit from that. We will also use the money for specialist coaching evenings, swimming training aids such as kick fins and hand paddles, team tops so that we look smart when we go to swim elsewhere, social events and to pay for courses to develop new coaching staff. All in all, this is a massive boost for us, allowing us to invest now for a successful future for all our members.”
The Club is also grateful for the tremendous support it was given in its application by Jill Hibbs, Deputy Head of Bitham Brook School. Her independent confirmation of the good work done by the Club’s volunteers was essential in getting the application through.
The Club is organizing a grand unveiling of the new equipment later this year.
“Westbury Swims The Channel” Sponsored Swim on 14th and 15th July
As you may be aware, the Club has been organising various initiatives to increase membership numbers and raise funds for the Club in recent months. These include school visits, promotional letters, lottery fund application and now this event. We hope you will give it 100% support!
The Club will be holding its first sponsored event for a good many years next month. We are organising two nights of sponsored swimming to include as many club members as possible and we aim to clock up enough miles to be the equivalent of swimming the Channel!
The sponsored swims will take place during normal training and grade sessions on both nights.
However, as well as being fun and a little different from normal lessons/training sessions, everyone participating should be doing his/her best to swim as far as possible in the time available.
We have decided to arrange this sponsored swim for two reasons:
1. The Club does need to raise extra cash to assist with the ongoing costs it incurs and to be in a position, for instance, to organise Club social events for the enjoyment of all members etc.
2. As you may well know, Jon Sims, who was a long-term club member, sadly died from a brain tumour in March this year, aged only 25 and the Club has decided to remember Jon by donating 25% of all the sponsorship money we raise to The Dorothy House Foundation which supported Jon during his illness.
You can download and print the sponsorship form below, and we would ask everyone to try their very hardest to get as many sponsors involved as possible. The money raised will be vital in allowing us to move ahead as a club. We are not asking for sponsors to pay so muchper width or length swum; rather we are just asking for a fixed amount, based on each swimmer doing his/her best on the night. There will be teams of invigilators present at poolside each night to record distances swum and the event will be well publicised in the local Press.
We are also asking that anyone who has paid sufficient income tax in the year should tick the Gift Aid box on the form. That way we can recover the basic rate of tax from HMRC on the sponsorship amount pledged. They must give their home address and postcode if they agree to Gift Aid.
As you know, we haven’t had a sponsored event for many years, so this time we are aiming to raise as much as we possibly can for the benefit of all the Club members. Hopefully every member will have ago and enjoy the challenge of helping their Club. So please, do your best to help Club Funds and get your sponsors signed up as soon as possible. Once you have swum, please also collect your sponsor money as quickly as you can and return it with your sponsor form, in a securely sealed envelope to Mark/Steve/Sandra/Denyse/Sally or any of the other regular poolside team. All the monies will then be co-ordinated centrally and we will collect up Gift Aid too before calculating the amount to give to Dorothy House. We will use that donation to get more positive media publicity for the Club.
Many thanks
Your Swimming Club Committee.
