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Chat, laughter and most of all fun – Pontypridd volunteers share their experiences

Our Pontypridd Sporting Memories Club has been running since July 2021 and thanks to the support of local volunteers John Smart and Steve Bain, it has been running and supporting older people based in the local community on Thursday mornings at Pontypridd Rugby Club.

We caught up with John and Steve to find out more about them and the sessions they support. John kicked us off by explaining how he was approached to support the Sporting Memories sessions which in turn led him to approaching Steve!

“The guy who started the Club was Stephen Hedges – who was the son of a famous sportsman who played rugby for Pontypridd and cricket for Glamorgan,” John began.  “When he said he wanted to set up a Sporting Memories Club in the area, I agreed to help support in any way I could.

“I then got in touch with Steve (Bain) because I’ve known him for a long time and asked if he would come along, which he has done ever since! I knew Steve because he also played rugby here for about 10 years, so it was a natural thing to get Steve to be a part of the sessions.”

Sporting Backgrounds

Despite being born and bred Rhondda men, John and Steve have connections to sport in the local area. Steve’s aforementioned time playing for the rugby club meant he knew the place where we host Sporting Memories particularly well, but John also played football locally and his two sons are also involved with cricket in the region today.

These sporting connections help to bring conversations to life at the Sporting Memories sessions, but they are both also helped by the members bringing their own unique sporting passions and stories too.

 “Within our group we have a 93-year-old cyclist who does his 20 minutes on the bike every day, we’ve got Cardiff City supporters, we’ve got people who’ve worked in the Middle East in the aviation industry, musicians as well, so you can tell that we talk about a lot of things – which is great for the group,” John reflected.

“Obviously, we talk a lot about sport and the hot topic of recent times have been the struggles of the Welsh rugby team.”

Steve also referenced how the conversations help the sessions to develop by adding: “The discussions we have always trigger someone else’s memories, and once everyone starts to get involved with the conversations we’re away.”

United by fun and laughter

One of the key factors of the Club’s success over the years has been the nature of the Club. Brought together as relative strangers, the volunteers and members now share a special bond which Steve put down to a fun and engaging environment.

“We’ve developed quite a nice, social group to be honest with you. I think we all became quickly aware of each other’s personalities within the Club and that helped to bring the spirit and the banter of everyone together.

“It’s grown over time and although everyone has a great time laughing and joking, we do try and bring some order to the sessions! But we don’t take life too seriously and we come along to Sporting Memories for a laugh and to enjoy ourselves. If we can help to make someone smile and have a good time at the session, then that’s a winner as far as I’m concerned.

“There’s enough bad news and things going on in the world right now, so if we can take people away from that and make laugh for an hour and a half a week then that’s fabulous.”

Always welcoming new people in

With the success of the Club of the past few years, Steve and John made it clear that new members are welcome and they can add an extra dynamic to the weekly sessions. John explained what new members can expect on their Sporting Memories debut.

“Traditionally when we get a new person join us, they get the chance to speak first and tell us about themselves as a way of integrating them in as quickly as possible. We all make fun of each other and muck in together, so we’ve all got that camaraderie which helps make the group fun for everyone that comes along and hopefully easier to settle in.

Steve echoed those sentiments by adding: “We also try to give everyone the chance to chat to bring them out of their shells and hopefully bring out memories, because if you end up discussing what you remember, you sometimes trigger someone else’s memory and that can lead to another conversation.

“We’re open to anybody who would like to come and the conversations are led by the members, so whatever you want to talk about we’ll make sure that we chat about it. You’ll always be welcomed with a smile and the offer of a cup of tea, coffee and a bit of cake too. Just come on in and enjoy it!”

A huge thank you to John and Steve for their time to speak with us. If you would like to find out more about the Pontypridd Sporting Memories Club, which runs every Thursday morning from 10:30am to 12pm at Pontypridd Rugby Club, get in touch with Rob Baker, via rob.baker@sportingmemories.uk