Start Archery Week will take place 14-22 May 2022, a nationwide celebration of all things archery. In the ninth of our weekly club stories about last year's event, The Hubb in Sheffield share their highlights.
We're highlighting previous Big Weekend/Start Archery Week events that have enjoyed fantastic success. If you're hoping to help your club organise Start Archery Week in May, and are not sure where to start, look out for these best practice case studies, right up until Start Archery Week begins.
The Hubb is a grassroots community initiative based in Sheffield. The Hubb's intention is to become a central safe space for the community, allowing individuals of all ages and backgrounds to feel a sense of warmth and belonging, complemented with mental, physical and spiritual growth. The Hubb's ethos is deeply rooted in holistic nurture and working together to build a stronger and cohesive community.
Through AGB's Project Rimaya (the Arabic word for archery) - a SportsAid-funded initiative created to increase participation of archery in ethnically diverse communities - Archery GB has been working with the Hubb to establish a community archery club. The 2021 Big Weekend was the ideal opportunity to launch the start of the new partnership.
A representative from The Hubb said: Â"We really believe that archery is needed right now as it has numerous health benefits particularly in relation to mental wellbeing. Also, as a Muslim community, it is one of the important components to our spiritual wellbeing.”
To help maximise the impact of the event, the plan was to use the 2021 Big Weekend to produce a promotional video to highlight the benefits of archery within the community and Project Rimaya as a whole.
Firstly, The Hubb identified a local videographer, and a brief for the filming was written and discussed with them. The main aim was to showcase archery as an inclusive sport that can be enjoyed by children and adults of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. It was also an opportunity to promote the relationship between archery and the Muslim faith. Archery has been part of Muslim heritage for over a thousand years, and among a limited number of recreational activities cited specifically in the Qur'an as a fundamental ‘Sunnah' sport.
The Hubb's Big Weekend event was a triple success. It provided a fantastic opportunity for lots of people from the local community to try archery, it recruited participants to fill three beginners' courses targeting juniors, women and girls and men and teenage boys, and inspired the production of a promotional video which has been a great resource for The Hubb and other Project Rimaya partnerships. The video illustrates what can be expected at an archery have a go event. Watch the video here.
The Hubb is now busy planning for their 2022 Start Archery Week and have three trained Session Coaches (Level 1) to help organise and deliver the event.
Please visit our dedicated Start Archery Week webpage for a host of resources, advice and to find out how to enter a range of exciting competitions with fantastic prizes!
