Kidz in the Middle: Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All hits the road
Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All hit the road last week, with Inclusive Community Training and Inclusive PE both on show at the Kidz in the Middle exhibition at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
With the event starting at 09:30 GMT on Thursday 19 March, representatives of the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) were on the ground setting up the stall from Wednesday afternoon, alongside neighbours Whizzybug.
Once the event was underway, Active Kids were besieged by enquiries from medical professionals, carers and parents, among others.
Dave, who works for a foster agency, told us he would like to offer the Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training to all of the foster carers he works with
Meena, a parent from Coventry, then explained how she hoped the free Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE Training would help her daughter’s school to better include her in PE lessons.
And Shelia, a physiotherapist in Warwickshire, said that Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training would provide a welcomed development opportunity for her team, and knowledge of the Inclusive PE Training would support them to show teachers other relevant training opportunities.
A record 2,523 visited the Ricoh throughout the day, coming from across the Midlands area as well as Cambridge, Berkshire and Essex. Others travelled from Wales, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and from as far afield as North Somerset and Kent.
In attendance on behalf of Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All was Chloe Studley, Project Support Officer. She said:
“Kidz in the Middle provided us with a fantastic opportunity to promote the Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community and Inclusive PE Training programmes as well as making people aware of the work of EFDS and our partners. It enabled us to have conversations with individuals from a range of backgrounds, telling them about appropriate low-cost training, professional development and local physical activity opportunities, all of which will hopefully contribute to more disabled people being active for life.”
Chloe added:
“We will definitely be attending future Kidz exhibitions, as no other event we have attended brings such a diverse range of people under one roof.”
Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training, part of the Active Kids for All scheme, is a creative, informal and informative workshop. It is designed to improve the skills and confidence of those who support disabled people to be more active.
Inclusive PE Training provides free training and resources to support teachers, trainee teachers and other school staff across the UK.
Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All attends a variety of conferences and events throughout the year. Kat Southwell, Active Kids for All Manager, explained why:
“Attendance at conferences allows us to connect with parents and professionals that have critical roles in supporting young disabled people in everyday life. Regardless of ability or impairment, we believe that every young person should have access to an active lifestyle. So the opportunity to inform parents and professionals at events such as these plays an important role in making this happen.”
The next Kidz exhibition is Kidz South, at Rivermead Leisure Complex in Reading, Berkshire on 4 June.
Carmel Hourigan, Admin and Exhibitions Manager at Disabled Living, who runs the Kidz events, told EFDS:
“We were delighted with how Kidz in the Middle went. Over 2,500 visitors were able to information on vital products, equipment and services that will help improve their quality of life. We look forward to being back at the Ricoh Arena in March 2016.”
For more information about Kidz events visit the Disabled Living website, and follow them on social media. More can be found regarding Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All on the EFDS website.
