A NEW sporting initiative from Active Surrey called Club Conversations, has been launched in Farnham. The scheme will now be rolled out across the boroughs and key towns throughout Surrey and Sussex but Farnham Sports Council offered to lead the way.

Andrew Freeman from Active Surrey explained that Sport England has a new website service called Club Matters and that they are keen to make everyone aware of its benefits to community sports clubs around the county.

He said: “Above all, the event was intended for sports clubs of all sizes in Farnham and beyond to learn and share experiences of running sports clubs. The response from Farnham was just fantastic.”

One of the highlights of the informative evening for sport in Farnham was the mid-session presentations by three local clubs which were invited to sum up their ethos and the reasons for their success.

Farnham Sports Council chairman David Gill said: “There are many superb community sports clubs in the Farnham area. We are very fortunate but our rationale in selecting these three clubs was based on the differing nature and sizes of the clubs, their recent national or county award winning achievements and the consequent value of their feedback.

“I’m grateful to Farnham Swimming Club, Farnham Rugby Club and Frensham Pond Sailability for contributing so much to the evening.”

The presentation from Farnham Rugby Club was promoted by the former club secretary, Mark Weeks, who contributed some excellent real-life recollections reflecting that the ethos of enjoyment was behind everything the club has done and wanted to do in the future.

A key figure in the Frensham Pond Sailability club is John Richardson - the word ’pride’ was his overall emphasis, to describe the Sailability project.

Representing Farnham Swimming Club, Graham Chalkley and Dimitri Tsopanakos spoke around the theme of ‘One Happy Inclusive Sporting Community’ but the audience gleaned most from their contribution that local sports clubs are also a business and that clubs had an important responsibility to ensure that they are sustainable.

Waverley Borough Council’s leisure development officer Emma Das said: “It was a very worthwhile event for local sports clubs in Farnham to be able to learn, reflect and share experiences with each other.

“The Farnham Rugby Club venue is more informal than many venues and that, together with the positive attitude of the clubs attending, added to the excellent atmosphere.”