Blog: "Positive activity opportunities for disabled children is vital"
Activity Alliance enables organisations to support disabled people to be active, and stay active for life. This year, we are continuing to share great stories from both sides – how organisations are working to make active lives possible, and the direct impact their work is having on individual disabled people. Our latest blog comes from Heather Fawbert, Chief Executive of Fairplay. She tells us how the North Derbyshire charity supports families across the region to be active together.
Hello, I’m Heather and I’m the Chief Executive of Fairplay. We are a registered children’s charity that supports disabled children and young people with a wide range of additional needs, and their families across North Derbyshire. I’m proud to say we currently support over 300 families across the region.
We were set up in 1992 by a group of parents who wanted accessible activities for their disabled children.
The group set up a club where their children could attend during school holidays. The demand for the group was overwhelming and the group developed into an organisation with paid staff. The organisation has grown ever since, developing youth services as well as children’s and expanding into areas throughout North Derbyshire.
As the CEO I am responsible for the smooth running of the organisation including ensuring that we raise enough money in order for our many services to run. Some of the range of services we provide includes; playschemes, youth clubs, Motor Activity Training Programme (MATP) sports, activity days and family trips. (Photo above shows MATP activity.)
Providing positive and safe activity opportunities for disabled children and young people is vital. At Fairplay we have seen first-hand how sport and activity can develop confidence, self-esteem and a range of life-skills. We have a member who struggled to navigate going up and down steps and curbs when out and about with her friends. Through the Special Olympic GB’s MATP, she can now do this successfully. This has enhanced her time out with her friends and support staff, which is great!
One area we prioritise is supporting children, young people and their families to socialise and be active together. One of the ways we encourage this is through regular family activity sessions.
An example of this are the monthly Chesterfield Football club sessions we run for families with children under the age of 12. These sessions encourage families to mix together in the play centre. We’ve found that these sessions are really important as they give families some quality time together. It also encourages parents and guardians to seek out extra activity sessions in the gym too. The aim is that this hopefully leads to better health and wellbeing both physically and mentally for everyone in the family.
The sports, indoor and outdoor play activities we provide is about including every child and young person, no matter what their impairment is. Every Friday our young people with complex healthcare needs take part in the MATP programme. Other young people go to the local gym and swimming pool. We also have very good links with a local martial arts provider who teaches martial arts activities, including self-defence. These activities are also key to reducing loneliness too.
However more does need to be done to improve these types of services. Specifically around upskilling staff working in mainstream settings around inclusion and disability. Customer service is also key and it’s important for sports centres and organisations need to be understanding and welcoming. Funding also needs to be made available to those organisations that already offer a successful package so that they can increase services and ultimately roll out a preventative, sustainable package.
My advice to other local organisations trying to enable more disabled children and young people to have positive activity experiences is - visit a successful group to see how they support young people being active. Be positive and enjoy what you do with the groups. Don’t think you have to have massive targets to be successful or amazing facilities. Start small – think big!
To find out more about Fairplay, or to get involved through volunteering, visit Fairplay's website.
