Refurbishment of Dalgety Bay Karate Dojo
Location: Dalgety Bay, Dunfermline, Fife, UK
You can find more details at…. www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/voting/project/view/4-805.
JKA Karate Dalgety Bay is a well-established karate club and has been in the area for over 30 years. The club is led by Instructor Sensei Bert Stewart 5th Dan Black Belt (JKA), who is fully qualified and registered with the Scottish Karate Governing Body and sanctioned by Sports Scotland.
Our club is very hard working and successful and includes several members who represent Scotland at UK, European and World level. As an example of our success, Colin Flynn (2nd Dan Black Belt) has trained with us since he was a child and in May 2018 he became Scottish Champion for senior kumite (fighting) – a video of the kumite final has been posted onto our web site (www.jkakaratedalgetybay.co.uk).
Our club holds ten training sessions per week for people of all ages and abilities, with approximately 50 members, of which around 70% are children. We are a fully inclusive club and the only requirement we place on our students is that they train hard and to the best of their abilities.
Our classes offer training in all aspects of traditional Shotokan Karate and we welcome all age groups, whether beginners, experienced students or those who may be returning to karate after a period of absence. Training is provided on a personal level with the support and guidance of Sensei Stewart, as well as mentoring from other senior grades and students.
The benefits that we offer our students, in addition to the development of self-defence skills, include;
Children
– Improve self-discipline
– Develop confidence
– Increase concentration
– Improve behaviour
– Improve social skills
– Fitness, agility and health benefits.
Adults
– Increased strength and flexibility.
– Increased self-esteem and confidence
– Constant learning and personal development.
– Being able to set and achieve goals
– Healthy weight loss
– Fitness, agility and health benefits.
Additional benefits to the local community include;
– The ability to meet other Dalgety Bay residents from all backgrounds and ages.
– To provide a sports hall that is hired by local groups (eg. yoga, dance).
– Our students represent Dalgety Bay at National and Regional events.
Our training hall (dojo) is well cared for, however it is also well used. The current flooring consists of old, chip board panels that are worn, uneven and unstable in places. This makes the floor difficult to train on as it could lead to cuts to the feet (from joints in the boards) and prolonged use of the solid floor could lead to damage to knee, hip and ankle joints. Our club has established a non-profit fundraising committee that is raising funds, initially for the strip out and replacement of the worn-out flooring with a proper sports sprung wooden floor. In addition, we plan to refurbish the dojo into a modern training facility, complete with floor to ceiling wall mirrors that will help our students to train and learn from mistakes. The installation of the replacement floor and wall mirrors would significantly improve the training facilities, further develop the skills of our students and to allow the club to attract new members from the community.
We would therefore wish to apply to Aviva to help us to develop the club and increase our reach into the local community. This is a one-off project that would be completed in a single financial year, depending upon the timescales in which we can raise the funding we require. The refurbished training hall will also be suitable for hire for a nominal fee (cost covering) by other groups in Dalgety Bay, for example, dance clubs, other martial arts, yoga, etc, providing a new facility that will encourage the development of other community groups.
We are also raising funds through a variety of means, including donations from local businesses, members fund raising activities, etc to meet our goals and have an enthusiastic fundraising committee who are progressing this.:
