Running three sites a big task at Valour
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This article was published 23/04/2019 (2329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Valour Community Centre serves a diverse demographic across its three West End sites.
The community centre was created through the amalgamation of its Clifton, Isaac Brock and Orioles sites in December 2006.
“There wasn’t enough usage and enough people to support three boards,” Valour board president Liz Jackimec said. “It came down to closing community centres or merging them together.”
“That was also at a time when the City was closing a lot of clubs and building supercentres, so that was also a consideration,” added general manager Jimmy Marnoch.
The decision to keep all three locations came down to accessibility, since most residents walk or bike to their local community centre. Today, Valour is run by a 14-member volunteer board and employs 10 full-time and 30 part-time staff members. The post-amalgamation catchment area for the community centre is about 10,000 homes. Each site serves a different section of the population. Most of the club’s seniors programming is run out of the Clifton site (1315 Strathcona St.) and includes line dancing, tai chi, table tennis, a Chinese social group, the Assiniboia Wood Carvers and a monthly lunch club. The Isaac Brock site (715 Telfer St. N) is where most of the family programming happens, including a healthy baby group, family fun nights, before- and after-school drop-ins and a weekday lunch program. This location also hosts a daycare program and summer carnival once a year.
At Orioles (448 Burnell St.), youth are the target market and programs include an after-school drop-in, an instrument, songwriting and DJ class, capoeira, yoga and boxing. Most of the activities at this site are free or low-cost to attend. Judo, taekwondo, zumba and drop-in volleyball offered at various locations.
Sports offered through the community centre include the Valour Patriots Football Club, basketball, hockey, outdoor and mini-soccer and T-ball.
All three sites have wading pools and outdoor ice rinks.
“One of the bigger challenges is to be able to serve all the people that are in our catchment area,” Jackimec said, adding that she would like to see more cultural programming, like an Indigenous beading or a Filipino cooking class, offered through Valour.
The Isaac Brock and Orioles facilities have seen some recent renovations and the focus has turned to outdoor areas. Building new basketball and tennis courts and moving the football program from Isaac Brock to Clifton where there is more space are top priorities.
“Those are our major outdoor goals and it’s hugely expensive stuff,” Marnoch said.