The voluntary efforts of a local rugby coach have been rewarded with a prestigious award. The Hughes Insurance Sports Volunteer Awards, a national awards programme recognising the unsung heroes of local sport in communities across Northern Ireland, has announced 12 regional winners from across the province.
Hundreds of volunteers from all sports were nominated with the Ballymena Sports Volunteer Award going to Gary Donald.Gary was chosen as the Hughes Insurance Ballymena Regional Winner for his work with Rascals & Bears at Ballymena RFC.
Since 2002 Gary has been involved with coaching mini rugby and from 2007 he has helped pioneer the “Rascals” section which attracts P1 & P2 children from across the community. Each year he has also organised events for the Rascals including Wooden Spoon Charity fund raising events (supporting disadvantaged children across Ulster).
On 26th Feb 2012 Gary formed the “Ballymena Bears” a tag rugby group for children with learning disabilities. To date the “Bears” has 12 players and growing from across the region and community. This is one of only 4 groups in the province at present.
Hughes Insurance Ballymena branch manager Sylvia Thompson said “There is some fantastic work being done by sports volunteers in our community and we want to thank everyone who took the time to nominate people they know doing some fantastic volunteer work. “We are delighted to announce Gary as our winner for his work with Rascals & Bears and give him the recognition he deserves.”
All 12 branch winners now go forward to the Northern Ireland finals and the chance to win the Overall Sports Volunteer Award title
