More than 100 people got to take part in a range of sports at the first Discovery Day linked to an exciting new project for anyone aged 14+ living with a disability.

ActiveAbility Southampton is an action-packed programme that has been developed by Active Nation to ensure everyone taking part has the opportunity to try a range of sports and activities that might not have been accessible to them before.

It will utilise all of the resources, knowledge and enthusiasm that our Southampton venues and teams have to offer.

In the first year we will be running 7 weekly activities including sailing at the Southampton Water Activities Centre, to skiing at Alpine Snowsports, Southampton, kayaking at Woodmill Outdoor Activities Centre, as well as swimming, badminton, cricket and rugby at other Active Nation venues around the city.

During the recent Discovery Day at Chamberlayne Leisure Centre, people with a variety of different disabilities got to try everything from cricket, to rowing, canoeing, badminton, boccia and new age curling.

Richard Farley had a great time taking part in the session. He said: “I had so much fun, I loved the day, and I want to do it every week.”

The day was a huge success thanks to the support of Hampshire Cricket, British Rowing and British Canoeing. Students from The Military Preparation College based at Chamberlayne College for the Arts volunteered as group leaders to guide everyone around the activities and Solent University and SVS were also on hand to help.

Terri Hardcastle is from Way Ahead Support Services and has more than 20 years’ experience working with disabled people. She said: “This was the best attended taster session I have ever seen, very well organised. A fantastic day!”

Nicki Berry from Southampton Day Services added: “I was particularly impressed at the options available for the clients with complex needs and adaptions were made in order for the clients to take part.

“We have a number of clients who will be accessing the 6 week courses starting in February.”

ActiveAbility project co-ordinator Robert Pearce said: “Active Nation’s Discovery Days are always popular and a huge success as they give everyone the opportunity to come and have a go at all things active.

“Our ActiveAbility Discovery Day was brilliant and it was great to see so many people getting to try sports and activities that they may not have tried before.”

Do you know someone aged 14+ who has a disability and would be interested in ActiveAbility? Weekly activities start on 23^rd February. For more information please contact Robert by email: info.aps@activenation.org.uk or by calling 02380707802.

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Our new disability trampolining sessions are already proving to be a massive hit with those taking part in Chorley.

The classes are designed for people with all ranges of physical or learning difficulties, including Asperger’s Syndrome, Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and various other conditions. 

Sports programme manager Lesley O’Donoghue said: “We started the session as for many months we have had been approached by various different organisations such as the National Autistic Society asking if this is something we offered. 

“We began to see there was huge demand for this activity and that no other centre locally offered this specialism.”

Disability trampolining coach Kirsty Bancroft had previously worked with these specific groups and was confident Active Nation could bring these sessions to their peak simply by offering them.  She was right and within 3 months she has built up a number or regular clients who visit her for this alternate therapy. 

Kirsty said: “It gives us opportunity to reach out to all of our Supporters and get them involved in one of our most popular sports.  We now have almost 30 regular Supporters involved in our disability trampoline sessions.”

Disability Trampolining runs on Tuesdays 12.30pm-4pm and on Fridays 1.30pm-4.30pm at All Seasons Leisure Centre and also on Thursdays from 11am-5pm at Clayton Green Sports Centre.  The cost is £5 per session and we run it on a weekly basis.

Lorraine Houghton, 32, loves coming to the sessions. She says: “I really enjoy trampolining. I really like doing seat drops and front drops. I will ask my friends if they want to come.”

Robert Ramsdale, 32, added: “I really enjoy trampolining because it helps to relax my muscles. I enjoy it very much, it’s good fun.”

For more information about the sessions please give us a call on 0300 0200 136.

The post Huge Demand For Our New Disability Trampolining Sessions appeared first on Active Nation.

December 3rd is the UN’s International Day Of Persons With Disabilities – and in recognition we teamed up with Lincoln Disabled Inclusive Swimming Club (DISC) to offer its members a free swim.

The group, which meets at Active Nation’s Yarborough Leisure Centre every week, has 21 members who enjoy an aqua fitness session in the pool and have a good catch up afterwards.

Group secretary Brenda Shaw said: “We like to think of ourselves as enabled rather than disabled.

“Our members suffer from a range of problems including arthritis, autism, MS, circulation conditions and so much more. We are open to anyone – all that you need to be able to do is to get in and out of the water – either on your own, with the help of a carer or with the hoist.

“We all encourage each other. We are a self supporting group and don’t receive any other finance from anyone. We hold raffles and fundraise throughout the year among ourselves.”

Class instructor Sally Logan added: “This really is a wonderful group where it’s the members who set the pace. A lot of what we do is about confidence and the social aspect of the class is so important as well.

“It’s lots of fun and the benefits of being weightless in the water is massive.”

Amanda is autistic and loves coming to the group as it gives her independence. She said: “I really do enjoy it. It gets me out of the house and gives me a bit of independence. Not only do we swim, but we also have days out, a Christmas meal, visits to the seaside, BBQs at each others houses and so much more. I have made lots of friends at Lincoln DISC.”

Lincoln DISC meets at the centre every Tuesday from 10.30am. For more information call Brenda on 01522 702245.

Yarborough Leisure Centre’s Stuart Blackbourn said: “Today is about raising awareness and giving something back to a local group that works so hard to support its members.

“As a charity our mission is to persuade the nation to be active and we work hard to make sure that our centre is accessible to everyone.”

If you have a disability and want to know what sports and activities are available at Yarborough Leisure Centre, then call 01522 873600.

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And yet they were proved possible. They were achieved. And they were all done very much in this world. The likes of David Weir, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, to name but a few, all proved that mankind can accomplish some pretty amazing things, even in circumstances and under limitations that make everyday life as difficult as it can be. We can all be proud that London 2012 provided these incredible human beings the opportunity to showcase their talents to the world like no other event has ever done before. And so we should be.

That word ‘opportunity’ is what Active Nation’s Sporting Chance scheme is all about. We want to increase the number of opportunities available for people with physical and mental disabilities to take part in sport and exercise, assist clubs and individuals in doing so, and eradicate any barriers that are preventing their participation.

‘What sort of barriers?’ we hear you ask. Well, if there is a lack of facilities or space for activities for disability sport and exercise, we’ll look to provide accessible facilities or space to allow them to take place. If specialist coaches, carers and equipment are needed for a disability group to take part in an activity, we’ll seek to fund such coaches, carers and equipment. We’ll work with disability focus groups in order to increase our understanding of the demand for sport and exercise activities for the disabled. Indeed, we’ll do whatever we can to help out, because we like being helpful. It’s in our nature.

By working closely with disability groups and disability sports development officers, both inside our centres and out in the community, to keep our finger on the pulse and make sure we’re meeting the specific needs of groups and individuals alike, we reckon we can help do some great things through Sporting Chance. Things like creating new disability sport clubs and offering advice to improve existing ones. Things like improving the quality and quantity of coaches and volunteers, without whom sports simply could not function. And things like increasing the awareness of disabled persons as to the sporting opportunities available to them, and of course, increasing the numbers participating in sport and exercise.

As such, each of our centres is further enabled to provide a balanced commercial programme of activities that provide suitable sporting opportunity and fun for all. Funding for groups and individuals is supported by the magnificent efforts of our very own Team Active Nation, as well as through the sales of the rather fetching products in our Active Essentials range.

In short, Sporting Chance aims to give people with disabilities a sporting chance (see what we did there…?). Of course, it’s a hundred times less remarkable than the feats of Paralympic athletes, but if we can get more disabled people active… well, we’ll be pretty chuffed.

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