Harriers club reach the gold standard
Strathtay runners land top leisure award
A popular Perth sports club has become the first to be accredited by a new Perth and Kinross scheme.
Perth Strathtay Harriers, a volunteer-led athletics club with over 200 active members, has achieved the Gold PACES award from Live Active Leisure, the body responsible for leisure venues across the region.
PACES is a new scheme across Perth and Kinross which helps sports clubs to run themselves efficiently and effectively, and help identify where improvements can be made.
There are three levels of accreditation available in the scheme, with the Strathtay Harriers achieving the highest grade possible.
Logan McConachie, Live Active’s sports development officer, presented the harriers with their award before their training session got underway at the George Duncan Athletics Arena.
Jim Hunter, president of the harriers, said: “Over the years, PACES has provided us with a wonderful focus on all governance related issues involved in running a volunteer-led club. Good practice and recognition for such can only be a positive for all involved and we welcomed the opportunity to reaccredit when PACES relaunched in March this year.
“We are thrilled to be the first club in Perth and Kinross through the new system, and we’re delighted to be awarded gold status.”
This comes after the scheme was re-launched in March to make it more accessible for clubs of all sizes and levels.
Stewart Harris, CEO of sportscotland, has praised the approach used by Live Active
The award was presented to the harriers at their training session Leisure. He said: “At sportscotland, we work with local and national partners to ensure that sports clubs are an integral part of their local community, providing high-quality opportunities for all those who wish to take part.
“The commitment from Live Active Leisure to support all clubs that engage with schools, community sport hubs, and local facilities to achieve the minimum criteria set out in their PACES scheme can only help to raise standards locally, and contribute to developing our world-class sporting system for everyone in Scotland.”