There were celebrations all around as Whitehaven Judo Club in Cumbria was awarded a cheque for £463.31 on the same evening that club member Craig Strickland received his 1st Dan.

Craig started judo as a senior player and now at the age of 37 is classed as a veteran. He took up judo having tried other martial arts in order to avoid his father’s footsteps. Craig’s father is none other than Brian Strickland one of the founders of Whitehaven Judo Club! And now Craig’s son has followed his dad into judo too as a junior member.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Copeland awarded Craig with his black belt and then all the invited members to join in celebration of Craig’s achievement to a fun session of judo fit games. These and technical training of Sasae Tsrui Komi Ashi were conducted by visiting coach Dermot Heslop, BJA Technical Officer.

The cheque was presented to the club’s chairman Anthony Kirkbride by Sonia Dryden, Copeland School Games Organiser as part of the “Out Reach Programme” to purchase mats, Gi’s and holdalls for the club. Some of the money will also be invested in First Aid qualifications, coaching cd’s, stationary and schemes such as MonStars and BJA membership and grades.

Out Reach is a three-year project to deliver judo throughout local Copeland schools, at a rate of five per term on a rotation system. The rest of the funding will be used for washing the Gi’s and other domestic duties.

Club coach Janice Knight said: “Everyone had a really great time. We tweeted about it and we are really pleased that so many people could celebrate with us.”

Judo Fit is an exciting new initiative which uses basic judo principles to warm up to judo or as a taster session for those who want to do judo for fun or exercise purposes.

Coaches interested in getting involved in this new initiative can sign up for a Judo Fit coaching course in Gateshead taking place on 26 October. For more details and to book click here.

Words by Donna Richardson. Photos supplied.