Ashby Sport Fun Day attracted another big crowd on Sunday as it marked its third year on the Bath Grounds - with organisers saying it is making a significant impact in the area.

Sports clubs from the Ashby region set up stands and offered people the chance to come and 'have a go' at a variety of activities.

The day was aimed at getting youngsters involved from an early age - as well as offering adults the opportunity to join up with a club.

These two youngsters enjoyed the Staunton Harold Sailing Club's boat

Ashby-based Leicestershire County Councillor, Dan Harrison, opened the event and has been one of the people involved in it from the start.

Cllr Harrison told Ashby Nub News that he hopes the Vitalize-sponsored day will go from strength to strength and allow some clubs to find a 'home' for their sports.

He said: "The success is down to the development of it, and how it's been laid out, we have up to 42 clubs are currently involved in Ashby Sport.

"A great number of those turned up on Sunday, and they tell us that they recruit well from this. It's a really worthwhile showcase for the local sports clubs to be able to get involved.

"If youngsters are joining clubs and playing sport, they're not on street corners. Sport is a discipline as to how youngsters behave in life, and it's fantastic, brilliant for young people. 

"But the bonus is that it, if you can't play sport as well as you used to, and you're moving into another zone of your life, you can then become something else and look at leisure attributes. Overall, it's good for people and it's good for Ashby."

Ashby Club's Jenni Sawyer and daughter Morgan were recruiting for new junior members at Ashby Sport Fun Day

Cllr Harrison said the event is now becoming a fixture on the town's events calendar.

He added: "It's a quality product, with clubs being well presented by demonstrations of their various skills and abilities, inviting members of the public to come and have a go, which is fantastic, so I hope we can build on this step by step each year and let it grow."

There is a long term aim of Ashby Sport to encourage the formation of permanent bases for some of the clubs involved in the organisation.

Cllr Harrison added that it is a difficult proposition but something that is being worked on.

He added: "I wish I could be more definite, but we are working very hard on this, helping clubs find regular homes.

"That's the first thing I discovered when I became involved with this three years ago, nobody seems to have a regular home for the sport.

"They were there on Sunday, but some are hiring a hall or a field somewhere. There is no cohesion or movement, just the encouragement alone.

"That's the hope, there's a lot of work going into this. But it's a very difficult job to acquire space that can sustain it, that's the bottom line .

"But we are talking to people, so that gives hope.

The day was sponsored by Vitalize Physiotherapy based at Blustone Fitness in Ashby

"As we've gone along, confidence has grown with the people we are working with bit by bit it's a steady path."

Organiser Kenny Horn also gave his assessment of the event and its future at Monday's Ashby de la Zouch Town Council Events and Tourism committee meeting.

Cllr Horn said: "The idea is that, through collaboration, can you create more of an impact. The answer is, yes you can.

"For three years running, we've run a fun day where the clubs come together and we're fortunate that we have a space big enough in the town where we can stage this.

"The whole purpose is to increase engagement in sport, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Ashby Bowls Club also welcomed new members on the day

"Some headline grabbing statistics are that, the tennis club ran their own awareness campaign two weeks before Ashby Sport Day last year and picked up eight new members; from Ashby Sport, they had 80 new members. The bowls club got 40 new members.

"The big question now is 'where do we go from here?'

"We've got a really good platform, so what do we do with it?

"The whole bill comes to around £6,000-£8,000 per year. But for the return on that, you only had to look at the amount of children who came down on Sunday and enjoyed themselves."

Ashby Rugby Club also encouraged youngsters to take up the sport