Blog: 'We are proud to be a member-run club whose history now spans 40 years'
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.
April's theme is local opportunities. This week, SportsAble’s Melissa Paulden discusses a ruby anniversary for a charity committed to staying close to its roots. They offer a range of opportunities for disabled and non-disabled people in and around Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Melissa’s blog
Turning 40 can be a scary landmark for anyone, but for an organisation like SportsAble it is a momentous occasion.
We are proud to have remained true to the spirit in which we started - to offer physically disabled people and their friends and families the opportunity to participate in a variety of fun and accessible sports on a daily basis.
Our members come to us to escape isolation, to get fit and healthy, to train for competitions, to have fun and to harness new hope after a life changing impairment or health condition.
SportsAble is also proud to be a member-run club whose history now spans four decades. We have excellent facilities, some of the best in the country in fact and this means that we can offer a wide range of activities to our members. Whether you are 8 or 80 you will find plenty to do at SportsAble.
"The facilities and equipment we provide are top quality"
Our purpose-built multisports centre at Braywick Sports Ground in Maidenhead is the home to most of these activities. It comprises a large sports hall, fully equipped kitchen, meeting rooms and a spacious lounge and Clubhouse Bar. There is also plenty of free car parking.
We strive for excellence, so the facilities and equipment we provide are top quality: a full length indoor archery hall; adapted sports equipment to suit most types of impairments; automated target placement and retrieval systems for our air weapons section; first class table tennis tables and supporting equipment, and of course, a wonderful swimming pool at the Magnet Leisure Centre.
Members can enjoy one or several sports and activities – there is no limit to what they can participate in and enjoy.
Under our motto of ‘fun, friendship and opportunity’ we offer something for everyone – volunteers, business people and supporters included. When athletes show potential we create the pathways and lead the way. To date members have represented Team GB 46 times across 10 Paralympic Games.
We have fundraised for and built our own building, a strong disability sports hub in the South-East and also a home-from-home for many other local disability groups. We are hoping to expand our base very soon.
"The right people came together at the right time"
Reflecting on our 40 years is quite something. Back in 1975, a group of potential para athletes were brought together by Philip Lewis MBE, then of the British Sports Association for the Disabled, who was tasked with setting up clubs all over the region.
In Maidenhead, it worked. It was one of those instant success stories where the right people came together at the right time and something magical happened.
Within 12 months this energetic, impassioned group sent swimmer Denise Smith off to the Toronto Paralympic Games.
A key figure who held the group together was Dr Chris Meaden, a physiotherapist who later went on to become the world's leading para equestrian profiler. Another key figure was John Jenkins, our President, who was awarded an MBE for his Services to Disability Sport earlier this year.
When John joined SportsAble (originally WAMDSAD) his passion and energy for sport was contagious. He also drove the fundraising (and still does) to achieve the £100,000+ target that was then needed for the first ‘clubhouse’.
Always thinking big, John took our annual Wheelchair Push, where individuals are sponsored to push, or be pushed, along a marathon route, to another level.
He and two other Paralympians, Stuart Anderson and Nelson Bailey, pushed themselves in their wheelchairs from Bristol to London along the A4, completing a Marathon each day for seven days.
It was harrowing and hard but a massive achievement, and that grit and determination is now embedded within every fibre and every member of this club.
"In this, our ruby year, we are struggling"
John is now inspiring the next generation to carry the torch for disability sport. Take 17-year-old Jamie Tearle, who wants to be the next David Weir. Thanks to a donation to the club, Jamie has the use of both a basketball wheelchair and a racing wheelchair. He loves both sports and is fierce on court and on the roads.
Our mission has always been to make sport happen for every member and in this, our ruby year, we are struggling. We need to find approx £750,000 so that Jamie and generations of runners and racers can enjoy their favourite sport.
We want the likes of Jamie to be able to achieve their dreams at our club that will, no doubt, be around for another 40 years and more.
