The Hawks Foundation (trading as Warwickshire Hawks Basketball Club) provides basketball training to over 250 male and female players across 15 different teams, ranging from 6-18 years and their men’s team. They also arrange mini schools’ tournaments for primary and secondary school pupils running alongside their school PE lessons.
In 2023, when the Foundation identified a need for basketball training within Stratford, they approached Stratford Town Trust for financial support, due to the huge expense of setting up a new session for local children.
Louise Whitely, Admin Manager Hawks Foundation and Warwickshire Hawks Basketball Club said of the application process: ”It was extremely easy, and the Town Trust were incredibly supportive. As somebody who'd never applied for a grant before, I was a little nervous of the application but a prior telephone call with Catherine Kelso reassured me that you just have to be passionate and clear about what you'd like support for - you don't have to write a million words and you don't have to be a whizz on computers either! Her advice was perfect and enabled us to be successful with our grant submission, for which we are truly grateful and 25 U11's in Stratford will also tell you the same!”
The grant enabled them to launch the new team immediately and they filled all their places within a matter of weeks and even have a waiting list of children wanting to train with them. The players are now enjoying training regularly and taking part in termly competitions against other teams.