Derbyshire Association for the Blind (DAB) have been awarded £1000 from the Punch Community Spirit Project (PCSP), run by Burton based pub company Punch Taverns.
The donation will enable local children with a visual impairment to benefit from 1-1 swimming lessons.
Alan McConville, Business Manager for DAB said “This funding will support 10 young people with a visual impairment, helping them to learn how to swim. It can be extremely daunting for any young person to learn to swim and young people with sight loss may find it difficult to join in group swimming sessions as they cannot see what the instructor is showing them at the side of the pool. This funding allows DAB to provide 1-1 swimming lessons for young people and our aim is that once they are proficient they can then join in mainstream swimming groups, giving them an opportunity to join in leisure activities with their sighted peers.”
Mrs Banks is the mother of one of the young people who have signed up to this scheme. She said: “Thanks to this funding, we have been able to double the duration of my son’s 1:1 private swimming lesson. We feel sure that he will come on much quicker this year and it’s great for holidays as he loves to swim in the pool! It will also really help him to keep up with his sighted friends when he starts his school swimming lessons next year”.
Anthony York, head of reward at Punch Taverns adds: “We’re delighted to be able to support this extremely worthy cause and it’s lovely to hear how it’s having such a positive impact.”
The Punch Community Spirit Project (PCSP) was set up to make donations to a variety of organisations such as charities, schools, sports clubs, welfare groups and hospitals.