Behind the Scenes: Oct ‘22
Atlantis is a charity – a community health and leisure centre that’s run for the community, by the community and led by a volunteer, unpaid board of directors. Whilst this makes things challenging, it also offers a flexibility to run wonderful events that put the community first and gathers us together. We wanted to celebrate that for this month’s Behind the Scenes with a special edition highlighting two brilliant community events that happened this month. Read on to find out more about what community has looked like at Atlantis during October:
H2O LockIn - ‘the overnight youth club returns!’
After a break of several years due to Covid-19, Hope to Oban (H2O) and Atlantis brought the much-loved LockIn back to the Centre at the end of October. The LockIn sees Oban High School’s S1 year group spend the night at Atlantis, playing all sorts of games, socialising, crafting and activities throughout the night.
This year’s edition welcomed a fantastic S1 cohort to the Centre, who were a brilliant credit to the High School showing enthusiasm, good behaviour and creativity throughout the night.
A special mention must be made of the excellent Atlantis and H2O staff team who were on duty for the night and did a brilliant job of keeping energy levels high with fun activities and a generally engaging, positive attitude. The Atlantis gang were assisted by a team of volunteers from H2O, Oban High School, Oban Youth Café and other community partners. A group of S6 volunteers also helped run the event, demonstrating an excellent attitude and sense of fun throughout the night.
Over the last 16 years, the LockIn has given generations of S1 young people an unforgettable experience. For many, this represents one of their first overnight stays away from home. The event offers a brilliant bonding opportunity for what is still a new year group, having reached secondary school from the many feeder primary schools in the Oban High catchment area.
Oban Tennis and Squash Club PSA Squash Tournament - ‘professional squash comes to Oban’
In a first event of its kind, Oban Tennis and Squash Club brought a Professional Squash Association (PSA) accredited tournament to Oban at the end of last month. With competitors joining from across the UK, the event saw three days of competition take place across both squash courts in Atlantis’ Squash Centre.
Rescheduled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was originally due to take place in March 2020. The event’s PSA accreditation means that winners receive ranking points that count towards their world squash standing.
Former world number 4 and Oban native Martin Heath worked closely with event organisers to ensure the success of the tournament, including contributing a significant amount towards the competition’s prize fund. A former beneficiary of Atlantis’s Elite Squad which helps young local athletes progress in their sport, Martin has remained committed to the local area, finding ways to support grassroots squash as well as other Atlantis activities. Martin’s contribution joined support donated by a range of local businesses and organisations including MKM, OES, BID4Oban, Oban Distillery, Macqueen Bros, Maurice Lockhart Electrical, Oban Sports Shop and others.
The winning honours went to Alasdair Prott of Scotland following a thrilling final match against England’s Will Salter. Prizes were presented on the day by Paul Bell, National Coach for the Scottish Squash Team.
Event organiser Jackie Kersley said:
Being able to bring such high calibre of squash to Oban is fantastic for the local area. Events like this offer an experience that is seldom available elsewhere in the country, with players commenting how impressed they were with the standard of facilities and warmth of welcome from the local community. Special thanks to Nick and the Atlantis team who bend over backwards to help events like this and clubs like ours.’
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It's fantastic to see community events like the LockIn and OTSC’s Pro Squash Tournament contribute such life and excitement to our local area. Just two of many such events throughout the year that Atlantis’ community status allows it to support. Here’s to many more of the same!