No less than nine sports organisations throughout Rhondda Cynon Taff are to receive a financial boost
from the colliery - as a reward to the local community
for supporting the miners who fought to buy it.
No less than nine sports organisations throughout
Rhondda Cynon Taff are to receive a financial boost
from the colliery - as a reward to the local community
for supporting the miners who fought to buy it.
A substantial amount of money has gone to grass-roots
Sportsmatch, the Governments Business Sponsorship
Incentive Scheme for Sport.
The Secretary of State for Wales paid tribute to the miners of Tower for 'transforming the pit from near-closure into one of the most productivein Britain'.
And he urged Welsh businesses to become increasingly involved in the Sportsmatch initiative. "I want many more organisations to come to recognise the value of supporting sport both within the local community and on a national stage," he said at the announcement of the agreement.
Athletics, football, rugby and horse-riding are the sports set to benefit from the investment, shared between a riding for the disabled group, local rugby and athletics clubs and numerous football associations. The agreements were brokered by the Sports Council for Wales, which also manages Sportsmatch on behalf of the Welsh Office.
The scheme has provided businesses like
Tower Colliery with a marvellous opportunity
to help sport in Wales both at local and
national level. It is vital that this
relationship between business and sport
continues to develop and prosper.
Tower Chairman Tyrone O' Sullivan said
that during the period the workforce were
fighting to purchase the pit, the community
of Cynon Valley 'fought alongside us'. "In
recognition of that, we decided that any
sponsorship we embarked on would be directed
into the community to assist various sporting
organisations and clubs at grass-roots level."