Conwy County Borough Council WSA Membership Testimonial
Mally Tidswell, Principal Leisure Manager at Conwy County Borough Council, has been at the organisation for 25 years – three of which have been spent in his current role – and has revealed how WSA membership has supported them.
I’m relatively new to this post; I was fortunate enough to get the job just before Covid-19 hit!
So when the pandemic started it was important to have the collaboration through the WSA, brining everyone together – local authorities, sport providers, NGBs – to help us through what has been a very difficult few years; the WSA was a key player in supporting us through that time.
And that’s the main reason for which we’ve remained a WSA member – purely around the coordination and seeing the benefits of being together as a team. I think the offer from sport, leisure and fitness in Wales is better from being in that collaboration led by the WSA.
Mally went on to mention the impact of the WSA’s COVID-19-specific help.
We were lucky enough to have representation on the sector-wide calls surrounding the Covid-19 updates due to that fact that we have both indoor and outdoor facilities as well as other provisions we look after.
That coordination and being able to speak to the likes of Sport Wales and Welsh Government was really useful. They were difficult times because announcements from Welsh Government came thick and fast, so those calls held by Vicky and the guys were vital to ensuring leisure providers reacted quickly to changes in law and guidance. This allowed for delivery of safe services which supported the public’s health and wellbeing during the pandemic.
It was just so good as a collective to understand where Welsh Government were going with some of the decisions they were making around the country’s sport and leisure sector.
Mally concluded by summarising the value of WSA membership.
Conwy County Borough Council’s Leisure Service is better now than before the pandemic and the WSA can accept some credit for that based on the support they’ve provided me and the rest of the sport and leisure sector over the last two years or so.
The WSA is integral to the development to sport and leisure within Wales; what they offer, how they deliver it and the professionalism of the team can only help organisations like local authorities, NGBs and other sport and leisure providers.
Having that support there and always having someone you can go and speak to for advice and guidance is crucial; it’s good knowing that they’re sat there in the background and that they’re there if you need them – that comfort is really good for me as an individual and for us as a team.
There’s something in that relationship that really helps us to know we’re part of a team going in the right direction – and feeling stronger as part of such a collective is key for me moving forward.
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