Committed coaches and a Mayoral message.

A library photo of Carolyne Johnston and Michelle Bartlett. If you read their fascinating article on their roles as Age Group Leaders (AGLs) you will begin to realise why we have such a hard working and talented group of junior athletes. I wasn't sure I had enough material for a newsletter this week but the couple of articles I did receive were, I thought, both important and interesting enough to merit one. Although these articles would appear, on the surface, to be totally different, what struck me was that they emphasised, once again, the benefits and core values of our club with familiar themes cropping up in both. Tony Jackson says " I firmly believe that the support the Club has provided over the past 6 months will have been instrumental in maintaining the physical and mental well-being of members." Paul, Carolyne and Michelle's article contains phrases such as "we're really proud of how adaptable we are as a club", " we are a family " and " friendship cohorts ". The dictionary definition of cohort is "a company of companions and supporters" which I think sums us up nicely. Stay safe. Best Wishes. David Jones Tony Jackson - Club Secretary and Stratford Mayor A Message from the Mayor. Our very own club secretary and Stratford mayor shares his thoughts. Tony Jackson When I was elected as Deputy Mayor I had 12 months to get an understanding of what the role as Mayor would entail and to give some thought to different ideas and initiatives that I could support. Fairly early on I decided that rather than supporting specific charities (as previous Mayor’s had done) I would support the following three good causes Volunteers People with Disabilities Exercise and Well Being Covid restrictions were already with us when I took office in May but at that time I had positive hopes that we would be back to normal by late Autumn. Sadly, that hasn’t proven to be the case and my Mayoral Year, whilst still being really enjoyable, isn’t turning out as I might have expected. Lockdown very quickly identified the value of daily exercise and we are very fortunate that Stratford provides ready access to lovely open green space. In these times the benefit of being a runner was never more obvious. The temporary suspension of Parkrun has meant my competitive side seems to have retired for the time being, but regular runs are still an essential part of my routine and the Greenway is a great space for spotting fellow club members. As Mayor, I get a real insight into the needs of the people and the wide range of excellent charities, community groups and clubs that provide essential support services for those people. I very quickly found that my chosen good causes option gave me lots of common ground when talking to all of these bodies and appreciating the extra value they are providing to the community during these unprecedented times. It is very difficult to do…