Case Studies Archive

Grants awarded in February 2009

Victoria Rose received a contribution of £60 towards her trip to India as part of her studies. She is aiming to fundraise to make up the rest of the money that is needed.

The Royal Air Forces Association received a grant of £350 towards a trip for their members. They plan a series of activities and outings for their members each year.

Stevenage Pioneers This group was set up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the new town of Stevenage when many people moved in from other parts of the country. A group of the original settlers got together and have stayed together organising outings and meetings. They received a grant of £350.

Trotts Hill School They received a grant of £500 to complete their leap frog trial. The Trust stepped in when their original funder suddently closed shop and couldn't help them. The Trust does not support educational projects that come within the norman curriculum but is able to support activities outside this remit. The staff and pupils at Trotts Hill have worked hard over the past few years to enhance their garden and outside space.

Renaissance Club They received a grant of £350 to help with an outing for their members.

Stevenage District Scouts They received a grant of £992 towards the purchase of two way radios for Scouts in Stevenage. They have a very active membership and they are also great supporters of the Trust and we have worked together jointly on fund raising events.

Knebworth Park Cricket Club This is a very busy organisation with members ranging across the ages. The Trust has funded some equipment for them in the maount of £875.

Friends of Martins House They have received funding of £350 towards a trip for their residents.

Gordon Craig Youth Theatre They received a grant of £750 towards the cost of taking some of their students to the Edinburgh Festival. These students will in turn bring back ideas for the rest of the group.

Remap This is a team of retired volunteers who adapt equipment for people with disabilities to suit their specific needs. They received a grant of £1000 which will be used purely for materials as everyone gives their time freely to help with this group.

Mrs Marjorie Clark Mrs Clark is a resident at Gladstone Court and has been doing the garden and buying plants and equipment out of her own money. The Trust was asked if it could help in any way and she was given a cheque for £100 to help with the purchase of plants for the summer season.

Stevenage Crucial Crew

The Trust has supported this project on a number of occasions. Crucial Crew delivers workshops that give Year 6 pupils from the Stevenage area an insight into life skills. It works in collaboration with the Police, Fire and Safety services to deliver these workshops for three weeks each September. Approximately 1500 students attend through the period of the course. Photograph shows the youngsters learning about First Aid.

Sports Grants for potential Olympians

The Stevenage Community Trust is allocating a portion of the annual grant budget to supporting local potential Olympians such as Neil McLellan, Ivan Bulyha and Mario Santos Costa. These athletes need all the support and encouragement they can to achieve their goals. To keep updated on their progress visit www.sportstevenage.co.uk

Neil McLellan

"This past year was a very intense year with all athletes trying that extra bit harder to gain recognition for the Olympic year.

I don't recall in all Neil's years in athletics one where he trained harder, with more determination than ever, but things just didn't come together for him.

Even Mark Roberson and Goldie remarked how well Neil had done without obtaining the overall result that it deserved.

In saying that, Neil's achevement in gaining a bronze at the British Championship/Olympic Trials was the highlight of his season, which was no mean feat in itself."
John McLellan

Ivan Bulyha

Ivan Bulyha is one of the top young gymnasts in the country and has a real chance of going for gold at the Olympics in 2012.

Ivan's latest news:

Ivan continues to train full time at Hinckley. His most recent competition was the British Championships in November 2008.

Here are the results from the competition. Ivan won a bronze on High Bar, although his overall results was not outstanding his coach is extending his start values in order to maximise his potential in the future.

Ivan has been selected for the 2009 British Training Squad with various training camps through 2009.Ivan trains most week days at Loughbrough University new training facility alongside other members of the Olympic TOP squad.

Ivan's next competition is the British Team Championships in Ipswich followed by the London Open 2009 which is the European Championships Qualifier.

Mario Santos Costa

Mario is one of Steve Redgrave's Sporting Giants - London 2012 search for new talent.

Mario has now completed his first full year on the Olympic 2012 Fast Track scheme as part of the World Class Development Programme. He has had two further Major reviews one in July and the other in November. As a result his contract has been extended until the end of March 2009, when he will be assessed again following a performance review after the April regatta at Nottingham. He has demanding Benchmark Standards to meet over the winter period.

Mario's first year has gone very well, but was not without concerns. He suffered a back injury in the third quarter of 2008. The medical staff sorted that out for him and in December he attended a training camp in southern Portugal for 2 weeks. He says it was hard work but very beneficial.

He is now on a 4 sessions a day training programme to increase strength and speed endurance. He has 2 more training camps coming up in the near future. One of these is at Loughborough University. This is a land based camp for the whole squad to kick off the 2012 campaign.

This will involve training, workshops and guest speakers to help set the scene for the 2012 campaign. The other training camp is in Seville in March 2009 for 3 weeks as an intense training session for the April regatta. If performance at this regatta is as expected they could return to Seville for further training.

Mario is now looking for assistance finding sponsors and/or grants to buy the boat that he needs.

Official opening of the Hellard Almshouses and Stevenage Bath House

The Mayor of Stevenage, Councillor Michael Patston, officially opened the refurbished Bath Houses in Church Lane, Stevenage recently. He is pictured with Mike Nash of Stevenage Consolidated Charities who raised enough funds to restore the premises.

The Stevenage Community Trust is proud to be one of the sponsors of this project. Group visits can be arranged via Stevenage Museum on 01438 218881 or visit the website museum@stevenage.gov.uk Public Open Days will be held in order to visit the baths and these will be organised by volunteers from the Stevenage Society for Local History. Visit www.almshouses.btik.com for further information.