Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training part of Kidz to Adultz in the Middle
Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training is for those who support disabled people of all ages within the community, such as carers, support workers, parents, volunteers and community groups and organisations.
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) team hit the road last week, with Sainsbury's Inclusive Community Training and Sainsbury's Inclusive PE Training both on show at the Kidz in the Middle exhibition at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
Below, George Bollands, Active Kids for All Project Intern, blogs about his experiences at the event and how important it is to spread the word about both programmes.
George's blog:
On Thursday 10th March 2015 I, as Active Kids for All Project Intern, attended Disability Living’s Kidz to Adultz in the Middle event, based at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Exhibiting with colleagues alongside other organisations which provide products, services and support to disabled people, the Active Kids for All team attended the event to promote Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training and Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE Training. We also advised visitors about sporting opportunities in their local area.
My day started at 08:30. I arrived at a quiet exhibition hall to help set up our stand prior to the event opening to the public.
Among those expected to attend were healthcare professionals, teachers and parents, all of whom had come to explore the products and services on offer.
Throughout the day, we met teachers wanting to know how they could make their PE lessons inclusive, talked to physios and occupational therapists about how they could make sport more accessible for their clients, and spoke with parents and their children.
Often we linked the people we met with their local County Sport Partnership and National Disability Sport Organisations, so they could find out about opportunities to get involved in sport and physical activity.
The reaction we got from asking parents if their disabled child played sport was varied, with some telling us their son or daughter loved climbing and running around, while others said their child didn’t do any sport or physical activity whatsoever.
One conversation which struck me in particular was with a parent who told me that her son, who was using a wheelchair, was too young to play sport. He was 10 years old. We discussed Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training and Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE Training and other potential opportunities available to him.
That support, I feel, epitomises the work of EFDS and what the Active Kids for All programme sets out to achieve. We recognise the importance of focusing on what disabled people can do, rather than what they cannot.
Overall, Kidz to Adultz in the Middle was a very successful event for the Active Kids for All team. I would recommend anybody who supports disabled people or has a disabled person in the family to attend a Kidz to Adultz event in the future.
I truly feel that, whether it was handing out leaflets about our training programmes or linking parents to their local opportunities, we helped to make a difference to the lives of many disabled people both in the Midlands and further afield.
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.
