Over $36,000 Awarded To Local Sporting Clubs

Evolution Mining – Northparkes Operations (Northparkes) and Parkes Shire Council are pleased to announce the successful ap­plicants from the latest round of the Sports Grants Funding Program, which included the new Rising Star grants program. In this round a total of $31,102.36 was distributed to six sporting groups and $5,000 to five ris­ing stars. Northparkes Communication and Engagement Superintendent, Brooke Plun­kett, expressed pride in the new program.

Mayor of Parkes Shire, Cr Neil Westcott, was pleased to see the new Rising Star program well supported. “What a wonderful opportunity the Rising Star grants provide to our emerging sports stars who can be hampered by the high cost of travelling to higher level training sessions and sporting events,” Mayor Westcott said.

The first group of Rising Stars included Ryker Moore and Toby Morgan. Both re­cently returned from the Australian Little Athletics championships in Adelaide with gold medals in the 400m and 800m events respectively. The other very impressive Ris­ing Star recipients were:

• Ryker Moore, athletics, Parkes $1,000

• Toby Morgan, athletics, soccer and swimming, Trundle $1,000

• Aaryab Gautam, football, Parkes $1,000

• Mason Wild, motorcycle racing – dirt track Parkes $1,000

• Henry Kross, squash, Parkes $1,000Under the Sports Grants round, the Parkes PCYC was allocated $4,209 towards the purchase equipment for a Parkour-style program targeted at young boys. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer a new Parkour program,” said Kim Sherrett, Parkes PCYC Manager.

The next round, opens on 1st Septem­ber 2024, will include $32,548 for sporting groups and $5,000 for Rising Stars. Appli­cation forms will be available from Parkes Shire Council’s website.