This year we are pleased to be working with www.cosyfund.com to support schools and young people in The Gambia to access sport and physical activity provision. Through our partnership work we have been able to source 3 local coaches – Yaya (left), JG (centre) and Sam (right) who were unemployed to become paid members of the community through Jamisa Yiriwa Nursery School. There will be two coaches operating in the south bank region which contains the main capital of the country, Banjul, along with other big towns such as Brikama and Serekunda. The south bank is also hosts the tourists and is more advanced in comparison to it’s neighbouring north bank. The north is more rural with little infrastructure, main roads have been developed to increase the flow of people to the nearby Senegal but many villages do not have running water and electricity.
In February 2018 four Amber Valley SSP coaches visited The Gambia in order to provide equipment, resources, support and training to our 3 new Gambian coaches. Training sessions centred around building a PE lesson from warm up to cool down, with AVSSP coaches passing on developmental games, drills and practices which could be delivered with the equipment provided in a variety of environments. Training was delivered in local schools, community centre’s and open spaces allowing for young people to get involved, making for a realistic experience for our new coaches.
Yaya will work in the north bank covering the local schools with Sam and JG working in the south bank. Over the February half term members of the SSP will visit the country and train the coaches ready to be able to deliver sport and activities to children and sports clubs.
As of February 2019 all three coaches were providing regular updates on their sessions with hundreds of Gambian children benefitting from the equipment, resources and training provided by AVSSP and partners. New equipment was provided at regular intervals throughout the first year thanks to support from Reydon Sports
We have also had fantastic support from www.quickplaysport.com who have donated a number of their superb portable goals. We have been advocates of these goals for years due to the ease of transportation and flexibility they provide. Many of the Gambian people will never have seen equipment like cones or bibs but the staff in the Gambia will now have well stocked kit bags to use in their programme’s;
Many schools in Amber Valley have generously supported our work in The Gambia by organising Gambia themed days to raise money for the project. All money raised has helped fund the equipment and resources used by our team of Gambian coaches.
Watch some of our footage here
If you feel that you can get involved in this project then please do not hesitate to get in touch!
