Club supports Grantham causes ahead of RotarySwimarathon

Rotarians have this week been presenting grants to local causes with the town’s 33rd RotarySwimarathon only a week away.

President of the Rotary Club of Grantham, Peter Chalk said the RotarySwimarathon is a huge event for the organisers and a huge event for the town.

He added: “With all the issues around Covid it is good to be back on track. Despite Covid, last year’s smaller event still raised a staggering £23,000 so it is a pleasure to be handing out some grants to these worthwhile causes.”

Peter went on to say that any local charity or deserving cause/project can apply for funding by completing a request on www.rotaryswimarathon.org

This week, the local causes which received grants from the club were inspire+, Place2Bee, Dysart Park, Tri4Vi and Youth Trust Grantham.

Leader of the Swimarathon event Roger Graves said: “We are delighted to have 186 teams signed up for the event from February 4 to 6 and swimmers, especially the children from most of the schools, are really excited and looking forward to be back in the pool. Whilst only a week away there is still chance to grab those last few lanes by texting to 07454 941349.”

The Tri4Vi club helps visually impaired people enjoy sport and keeping fit. Tri4Vi is a local group of volunteers supporting visually impaired athletes access swimming, cycling and running help. They have guide runners who help out with training and races. They also have a small fleet of tandems for leisure and competition cycling and also go to swimming pools and lakes where sighted guide swimmers use radios to keep visually impaired swimmers safe.

The tandems posed a problem as they were too big to be transported using normal car mounted carriers. So with the help of the Rotary Club of Grantham Swimarathon the group was able to get a bespoke trailer made to carry two tandems and two ordinary cycles. Having the trailer has enabled them to help visually impaired cyclists ride both for pleasure, training or in races.

Place2Bee, under the umbrella of the South Lincs Blind Society, is only seven months old and going from strength to strength supporting male mental health and wellbeing within Grantham and surrounding areas. Within that short period of time, it has prevented suicides and helped change many people’s lives. They have sessions every Monday and Thursday from 6pm to 9pm, all manned by volunteers, some who have been trained in mental health first aid.

It is headed by Jason Desmond, a mental health first aid trainer, who was born and bred in Grantham and served in the army for 26 years. However in his last year in the army he suffered an injury during an exercise and is now on crutches and still suffers severe PTSD.

His commitment is second to none, as is his wife’s along with another core of five volunteers whose dedication to help and support those suffering with mental problems is second to none. The group is for any men feeling stressed, anxious or depressed.

Other activities and services to help others are growing daily, such as Knit & Natter so people can get out and meet others. The newest service is the Dementia Care Group, to support those with dementia but also their carers who also need help and support.

The charity is totally self-funded and any donations or money raised goes straight back into providing more services to the people of Grantham who need someone to talk to, need help and support or just want to mix and mingle with others.

When RotarySwimarathon celebrated its 30th anniversary it installed a large outdoor gym in Wyndham Park which is very popular with the community. So last year when the Rotary Club celebrated its 90th anniversary it decided that in conjunction with the Swimarathon and a supporting grant from the Rotary District Foundation they would install four pieces of fitness equipment as the start of the Activity Zone in Dysart Park.

After delays due to Covid these have now been installed. Julie Ashworth, South Kesteven District Council parks community engagement officer said: “The Rotary Club of Grantham has shown huge generosity in providing this fabulous outdoor gym equipment for Dysart Park, which will add to our ambition to make this the town’s third Green Flag park of excellence.

“In the past Rotary has helped by providing outdoor gym equipment and picnic benches to Wyndham Park and we sincerely thank them once again for the work they do to provide such significant park improvements for the people of Grantham to enjoy.”

Another cause to benefit from the generosity of Rotary is inspire+, a Grantham-based independent school sport, health, wellbeing and education charity who work with over 50 local primary and secondary schools .

The donation from the Rotary Club of Grantham Swimarathon will be put towards the annual Mini Olympics which is the charity’s annual end-of-year festival across three days in which more than 2,500 young people take part.

Teams taking part in the games will each be representing a different Olympic/Paralympic country. They will parade in their own opening ceremony and experience a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports before performing in their own closing ceremony.

With the Commonwealth Games taking place in Birmingham this year, the Mini Olympics will have a Commonwealth Games theme focusing on Commonwealth Countries and some of the more unknown Commonwealth sports to give children the opportunity to experience something new.

Finally, the Youth Trust Grantham has also benefited from a Rotary grant. It was formed in 1988 as a successor to the government backed Youth Training Scheme (YTS), set up to benefit the education and needs of local young people aged between 16 and 28. They are able to provide grants to young people for a number of different activities that will help to develop them as individuals.

Trustee Alistair Holmes said: “Youth Trust Grantham has assisted many local young people by enabling them to participate in challenging personal development projects both in the UK and abroad. The Trust will typically help with the funding of projects that meet their criteria. Full details are available at youthtrustgrantham.com

“The Trust is grateful to the Rotary Club of Grantham for their generous donation”.