Caprice Gastin remembers doing gymnastics at the Griffith PCYC when she was a tender six years old, the same age as the girls filling the room on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now a gymnastics coach for this new generation of budding sporting students, seeing the old equipment finally replaced is a "game changer."
The gym room has had a total revamp - from new flooring, new bars, new just about everything, thanks to a PCYC grant.
"It's just great - it will certainly bring the training level up for the kids, it's a really game changer," she said.
"The kids have so much more now, it's really opened up opportunities."
After spending a few years writing grant applications, she could taste the victory as the money was slotted for Griffith.
Ms Gastin is not the only one to remember using the old equipment.
Mum Bernadette Russell said she did gymnastics there going on thirty years ago, and her five-year-old daughter Chloe was using exactly the same.
"We now have all of these new things, and the kids just absolutely love it," she explained, with Chloe nodding her head in agreement.
READ MORE
And for Cate Yates, the difference it has made in making the coaches' jobs easier was the kicker as well.
"It is great to see this money spent locally," she said.
"You so often here it going to other places, but to have it here in town is so rewarding now."
It comes at the perfect time too, with parents and carers able to take advantage of the State Government's Active and Creative Kids vouchers before 31 December.
At the end of the year any unused vouchers will expire, meaning up to $200 worth of vouchers for each children will be lost.
According to the NSW Office of Sport 60% of eligible families have so far used their vouchers in 2019 - that leaves more than 500,000 vouchers still to be redeemed.
PCYC NSW is the state's biggest provider of Active Kids programs and is one of the only organisations that accepts both Active Kids and Creative Kids vouchers.
The states's PCYC CEO Dominic Teakle, said the vouchers are a great way to expose children to a range of activities that stimulate social, health and creative development.
"We realise that out of school activities can be prohibitively expensive for some families. Thanks to these vouchers a lot of the activities at our club can be done with little to no out of pocket expenses," he said.
***
While you're with us, did you know that you can now receive updates straight to your inbox every Monday at 6am from The Area News? To make sure you're up to date with all the Griffith and MIA news you can sign up here.
