Badminton: Cash netted for contest

Dec 19 2008 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

BADMINTON bosses have expressed their delight after funding was secured to allow one of the sport’s flagship events to be staged in Perth.

Perth and District Badminton Association were awarded £1000 this week to help with the funding of the Scottish National Badminton Championships.

The money, gifted by the Fair City’s Common Good Fund committee, will see the country’s top players descend on the Bells Sports Centre at the end of January.

Anne Smillie, chief executive of BADMINTONscotland, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be holding our National Championships in Perth for the ninth time.

“We have developed an outstanding working relationship with the staff at Bells Sports Centre over the years and look forward to continuing it even further.

“Some to the top players are set to attend – like Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Susan Hughes – so we are delighted that we have been given the money,” she said.

A further £1000, awarded by Perth and Kinross Council Events and the local authority’s financial assistance panel, has also been contributed towards running costs, which total £5000.

The rest of the bill will be footed by the sport’s national governing body and the tournament’s sponsors, Yonex.

Councillor Callum Gillies, a member of Perth’s Common Good Fund committee, said: “I have attended the Scottish Nation Badminton Championships for several years.

“It’s a very well-organised event and we want to keep it in Perth.

“I would urge everybody locally to go along to see it because, like any other sport, it could do with as much support as possible,” he said.

The committee also pledged over £10,000 to nine other projects.

Approximately £2000 was awarded to allow various community groups to fund activities over the festive period.

Seasonal goodwill was also extended to the Perth Association for Mental Health, who were granted £3000 to assist with the continued upgrade of their Milne Street premises.