Call out for sports gear for Rochey’s kids

LOCAL not-for-profit, Sports Focus, is seeking new or used sporting equipment with the aim of getting gear into Rochester so kids in the town can keep active during the school holidays.

The organisation has been supporting central Victorian communities since 1983 and never has its programs been more necessary than since the devastating floods in Rochester in mid spring.

Jasmine Noske, Project Coordinator at Sports Focus, said that since the floods it has been difficult for young people to participate in sporting activities.

“We feel sure that this initiative will give the kids something to look forward to,” she said. “The Rochester pool is still closed and many services will not be open over Christmas.

“Keeping activite is good for both mental and physical well-being.”

There is a range of sporting equipment that Sports Focus is seeking for donation including footballs, soccer balls, netballs, cricket bats and balls, down balls, tennis balls and rackets, frisbees, skipping ropes, bike helmets, as well as kid’s bikes, scooters and skateboards.

Now is the time to go through cupboards and garden sheds and look for used sporting equipment that you promised yourself you would use again, one day, but never have!

There will be designated areas in Rochester that are safe, available and where kids can be active, including Windridge Oval, tennis courts at the Presbyterian church, and depending on whether bikes, scooters and skateboards are donated – the skate park.

Donations are being accepted until 21 December at both the Sports Focus office and 14 Nolan Street, Bendigo and SportsPower at 342 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo.

– BY FIONA WATSON