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Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training 'has already had a huge effect'

A borough council employee who wished to improve her knowledge and skillset to support disabled people to be more active has praised Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training.

Yasmin Gordine, Community Engagement Officer at Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, attended the fun, accessible and affordable workshop earlier this year.

Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training recently passed a significant milestone with over 2,500 individuals having benefited from the initiative.

Prior to attending, Yasmin told the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS):

“I administer and co-ordinate the general running of a disability sports club. We deliver a variety of sports such as boccia, kurling, basketball and football. 

“My reasons for attending the training were to gain a more extensive skill set in terms of different engagement techniques with the young people. I also wanted to share best practise, as well as seeking reassurance that what the club delivers is appropriate and inclusive.”

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.

Yasmin highlighted three aspects of the training that she found particularly useful:

“I learned about the Inclusion Spectrum, which I found very useful because it allowed me to clearly identify different Open, Modified and Parallel tasks  and enabled me to come away with a range of activity ideas for each one – it really was a great help.

“Developing my knowledge of ‘STEP’ (Space, Task, Equipment, People) was also excellent - this is a resource that will allow me to quickly analyse why a task might not be working, and make the right changes.

“And having the opportunity to socialise and discuss what my fellow attendees all do on an individual basis was really useful, because I find networking key to being able to deliver a project like mine.”

Described as "fun, interactive and interesting" by past participants, Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training is ideal for, though not exclusively, carers, support workers, parents, volunteers and community groups and organisations. The workshop is not for qualified sports coaches.

Yasmin is enthusiastic about the impact attending the workshop has had on her day-to-day work for the council:

“This training has already had a huge effect – it’s allowed me to take a step back and re-evaluate the activities which I was already co-ordinating.

“I would advise any person who is involved in working with disabled people to participate in Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training, because it’s one of those workshops that adapts so well to fit in with your line of work.”

For further information, please contact EFDS, email AK4A@efds.co.uk or telephone 01509 227751. Find us on Twitter @Eng_Dis_Sport, Facebook and LinkedIn.