A sporting chance for more cash

Support for Sport

I have discovered that no Paisley North sports groups have taken advantage of a scheme called “Sportsmatch” which gives cash to local sports groups which have succeeding in attracting some commercial business sponsorship. The scheme is funded by the Scottish Executive and administered by Sportscotland.

Under the Sportsmatch scheme, Sportscotland matches pound for pound any donation (cash or equipment) that businesses give to local sports programmes. Any sports programme/group wishing to apply must have already attracted at least £500 in commercial sponsorship. Then Sportsmatch can match such commercial donations up to £10,000.

I do not want Paisley sports clubs to miss out on the Sportsmatch scheme which could award them up to £10,000. I encourage any local sports club with a little sponsorship – to make a New Year Resolution to apply to the Sportsmatch scheme this year.

Details and an application form can be found at: http://www.sportsmatch.co.uk/

Tackling Violence

Strathclyde Police’s “Violence Reduction Unit (VRU)” is a pioneering project that has been up and running in Glasgow over the last year. The Unit’s task as its title implies is to reduce violence. Although the Unit is still in the early stages of its work, violent crime statistics show significant improvements. In Glasgow from April to Sept last year murder statistics were down almost a quarter, attempted murders down 31 per cent and serious assault down 12 per cent, compared to the previous year.  So the message is clear in its first year the VRU has seen considerable early success.

The good news is that this expertise is now to be made available to Strathclyde’s K Division which covers all of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.  The Unit’s success in reducing murders and serious assaults in Glasgow last year speaks for itself. I certainly hope that bringing this expertise to Paisley can make a real impact on the levels of violent crime in Renfrewshire in 2006.

More Teachers

The Scottish Executive has announced that Renfrewshire is to receive over £2million funding for their share of over 1,700 new teachers in the next 2 years.

The cash will help reduce class sizes even further; give teachers more time for marking, preparation and support the employment of extra visiting specialist teachers.   This sort of investment in new teachers will help our schools become even more focussed on the needs of each individual pupil so they get the personalised support, encouragement and opportunity to be the best they can be.