Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training 'is a really useful tool'
Over 3,200 individuals have taken advantage of three hours of, informative and practical training that make up Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training.
The workshop is for those who support disabled people of all ages within the community, and have an opportunity to put the training into practice.
For example; carers, support workers, parents, volunteers and community groups and organisations.
One individual who has recent positive experience of Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training is Hayley Ramjattan, Paediatric Neuromuscular Physiotherapist at Oxford Children’s Hospital.
Hayley told the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS):
“I first heard about the workshop as a training opportunity and I went along because I wanted to find out what it was about before I advocated to others.
“I attended a session of Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training at Northampton University – a dozen others were there. There was a real mixture of participants in the room, including staff and volunteers from various support groups. One person was in a wheelchair, and another did not have use of one of her arms.
“Because it was such a spread of people it was interesting to see how different people planned to apply what they were learning to their own world of work.”
Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training is designed to improve the skills and confidence of those who support disabled people to be more active, and is a creative and informal development opportunity.
Over the last 18 months, EFDS has been documenting the positive experiences of many who have participated in workshops, organised by County Sports Partnerships and delivered by programme partners sports coach UK.
Hayley’s workshop was arranged by Northamptonshire Sport, the County Sports Partnership for Northamptonshire.
She added:
“I’m not sure I knew what to expect on the day of the training! I really liked the practical side of it, and the trainer was really very good, full of practical advice and with a world of experience. It was really good to be able to pick his brain about things.
“I thought it was very encouraging, the way the training broke down ways of working with disabled people; one-to-one, in small groups and in big groups. It was really good to learn how to adapt each activity depending on the group size, and adapt an activity so everyone could participate.
“It was really nice to establish that Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training is a really useful tool.”
There are dozens of open workshops available to sign up to, all advertised on the EFDS website.
Physiotherapist Hayley was left in no doubt of the value of Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training, and has already applied her learning to her everyday working.
“As a physiotherapist, I completely believe in the idea that getting up and giving something a go is the best way of learning.
“Subsequent to the training I have been sending information about Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training to other community physios, and if I am speaking to someone relevant I will encourage them to take a look at the programme.
"You don’t know what you don’t know. Until you go onto a course and someone surprises you with an opinion or a shared experience there will be areas you have never considered before. So Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training is a great opportunity to get people together.”
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.
