MP Backs Sports for Champions Community Hub

An organisation that gets athletes and young people together to change lives for the better is bringing a community hub to Deeside.

Based on Deeside Industrial Park, Sports for Champions UK is a Community Interest Company that has engaged with 5 million children, raised £7m for schools and £4m for athletes in the past decade. Its mission is to educate, enable and empower young people in line with the national agenda for child welfare, public health, and safety.  

Now the team wants to use its skills and experience to benefit the youth in its local area, with plans for a community hub.  

The hub will have a gym where young people can train with top level athletes and take part in workshops on nutrition, resilience, self-esteem and knife crime. There will be a barber shop and café where Sports for Champions will work with Coleg Cambria and Coleg Llandrillo Menai to provide apprenticeships, plus a music studio. Young people will even be able to get help with life admin such as applying for a provisional driving licence. 

Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami was delighted to visit Sports for Champions UK at its office and to tour the new site to hear all about the exciting project. 

“Sports for Champions UK has a strong track record on delivering, and I’m delighted that the company is going to be inspiring young people in Deeside,” said Mark Tami. 

“Years of austerity have led to a decrease in youth provision. Coupled with Covid, this has left a lot of young people isolated. The hub sounds like a fantastic facility and I’m keen to support it in any way I can.” 

Sports for Champions UK’s Operations Manager Lloyd Yates said: “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for Sports for Champions to educate, enable and empower people of all ages in our local area.  

“Deeside is in the top 15 percent of deprived neighbourhoods in the country and lacks many of the social, health and wellbeing services that are so prevalent in the neighbouring city of Chester. Alongside the many elite athletes behind this project, we are determined to see this dream come to reality for the people of Deeside, Chester, the unfunded athletes of the UK and for the thousands of school children who benefit from our workshops annually.  

“Ultimately, this hub will deliver real change in our community and we need everyone to get behind the project, so please donate what you can as every penny counts.” 

Anyone who wants to help raise £100,000 for the community hub, can donate via:

the project’s crowdfunding page

Pictured: L-R - Sports for Champions UK Marketing Manager Brenainn Shackleton, Mark Tami MP, and Sports for Champions UK Operations Manager Lloyd Yates.