Weightlifting Wales club Strength Academy Wales wins para award
Welsh Sports Association (WSA) member Weightlifting Wales has seen one of its clubs, Strength Academy Wales (SAW), win a para award, collecting the Club of the Month Accolade from Every Body Moves in June.
Developed by ParalympicsGB, Every Body Moves is the nation’s largest online destination connecting people with thousands of inclusive sporting and physical activities across the whole of the UK.
Their Club of the Month award celebrates the outstanding opportunities that SAW have created for disabled people to be more physically active through inclusive and adaptive weightlifting, evolving the sport to promote fitness and wellbeing in addition to other positive health benefits.
Based out of a modern venue in Haverfordwest, SAW’s sessions attract participants from all over Pembrokeshire. In addition to the inclusive liftings sessions, more tailored opportunities include Age Well (60+), arthritis and free sessions for carers, amongst others.
Simon Roach – who is also Strategy and Development Manager at Weightlifting Wales and collected the Most Influential Campaign award at the 2024 WSA Sports Industry Awards on behalf of the organisation – is Head Coach at SAW.
He commented:
“Our members, staff and volunteers are delighted to receive this prestigious award. From a personal point of view, I am absolutely overjoyed; there have been years of hard yet rewarding work in creating the diverse community we now see at SAW. We have had an immense amount of support from the local community, our members and various funding providers, which has helped to shape a warm and supportive community hub for many local people from Pembrokeshire.
“I hope this award and the profile that brings will encourage others to attend our sessions to benefit from social strength training, where inclusion is at the heart of everything we do, no matter age, background or ability.”
Baden Knifton, Para sport Engagement Officer at ParalympicsGB, added:
“It’s great to celebrate amazing clubs like Strength Academy Wales who put inclusion at the heart of what they do in the local community. The work SAW do for the people of Pembrokeshire really makes a difference and proves that there is a sport or activity out there for everybody. No matter a person’s age, gender, religion, ethnicity, or impairment. The message from Every Body Moves is simple – get out there, find your thing and have fun!”
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