The Junior Section of the Orkney Judo Club displayed their excellent skills on the new mats the club was able to purchase with grant funding from National Lottery Awards for All Scotland.

Thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund in partnership with sportscotland the organisation was able to buy club standard mats – quite an upgrade from the ones they have been using up till now.

The funding came from National Lottery Awards for All Scotland – a quick and simple way to access small National Lottery grants of between £300 and £10,000. The grants have been made possible thanks to National Lottery players, who raise £30 million each week for good causes across the UK.

Orkney Judo received £4,000 to purchase the new judo mats and equipment for training.

Orkney Judo Assistant Coach, Niall Allison, said:

“Up until now we have been using gymnastic mats but with the grant, we will be using the real thing.

“Until the members have experienced the difference between them, they don’t know what they have been missing.

“Safety is always our number one priority and having these mats will make throws even safer.”

You can find out more about Orkney Judo Club on their Facebook page

National Lottery Awards for All Scotland is now more straightforward to apply to and faster to get funding from. Applications are received on a rolling basis and can be received at any time. To find out what National Lottery Awards for All Scotland could do for your community visit www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or phone 0141 846 0447.

You can watch a video of the youngsters going through their paces here:

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Reporter: Fiona Grahame Images Martin Laird