The Thorold Community Activities Group (TCAG) is bursting at the seams. Which is why, starting next week, they’ll be expanding their programming at the James Whyte Arena in downtown Thorold.
“We're very excited,” says TCAG executive director Megan Gilchrist, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “We're going to be expanding a lot of our youth programming options over to the arena space. Ultimately it will improve both our youth and our adult offerings because it just gives us a bit more room.”
At the arena, the TCAG will offer racquet sports for youth, such as pickleball, tennis and badminton, as well as hockey, soccer, volleyball and basketball.
“We're already offering [some of those] but it allows us to get some of the kids off our wait list that we have every week,” says Gilchrist.
The TCAG will share the arena with the 128 Thorold Flying Dragons and the Thorold Minor Soccer Club.
The move is part of the city’s short-term plan for the empty space, while they mull over long-term proposals for the future of the Thorold Community Arenas.
The expanded programming at the TCAG means that the organization is also hiring new staff.
“We have quite a number of youth instructors who are contracted with us and they tend to come with varied skills,” Gilchrist says. “We are working on hiring a development coordinator right now that would be starting in January. We're at that phase where we're growing and we have to expand in order to make the leap to the next level.”
As part of their community engagement, the TCAG is also putting on a host of events this fall.
On the 16th of November they’re organizing a pop-up produce market, as well as a free book giveaway with First Book Canada.
“On that day, we’re also doing an official ribbon cutting for the new mural that went up on the building,” says Gilchrist. “So that and our garden sign will be officially sort of unveiled.”
The non-profit is also gearing up for a fundraiser for Giving Tuesday, which will take place on December 3rd.
“We’re hoping to encourage folks, if they have a little bit of money or they're working to make a charitable donation, to consider doing that,” says Gilchrist.
One thing’s loud and clear: the TCAG is doing all it can to keep up with Thorold's growing population.
“We have noticed a real pickup in demand for our services in the last six months,” Gilchrist says. “We've moved out of the pandemic period and people are getting back to activities. We’re trying to figure out ways that we can expand our services while also being a nonprofit and on a limited budget.”
