SPORTS TRUSTS
Transforming lives
ORGANISATION Impulse Leisure
PROJECT Short Breaks
years. The scheme, for disabled children and their families, gives kids a chance to try new activities – from trampolining to aqua therapy, table tennis to football and multi-sports sessions – while parents have some well-deserved time off. Ten-year-old Joseph Greaves is just one
I
child who’s benefited from the scheme. He has classic autism, sensory processing disorder, hyper-mobility and chronic bowel disorder, and has been attending sessions including football, gymnastics, tennis, cricket, basketball and dance.
mpulse Leisure’s Short Breaks initiative has been running across its three West Sussex sites for three
The multi-sports sessions have helped
make Joseph aware that others may not play the same as him, and he’s learning to accept rules and understand why they are there. His social skills have also improved, along with his listening and turn-taking skills, running ability and hand-eye co-ordination. He’s more confident, more body aware and more aware of other people. He’s now learning to tap dance, which is having a positive effect on his hyper-mobility disorder. In the past, Joseph could become
extremely angry over something that had happened, but this has become less so as his verbal skills have grown and he’s become more confident that the staff, who tailor sessions around his interests, are there to help him. Short Breaks funding – part of the
government’s Aiming High for Disabled Children programme, designed to transform services for children and young people with disabilities and their families
Disabled children can try new activities which develop their social skills
– has enabled Impulse Leisure to increase levels of participation by offering low- cost sessions and activities. Impulse Leisure received the first
batch of funding in 2011, which financed two Fun Days at its Lancing Manor and Southwick sites, and a Fun Day and After School Clubs at Chanctonbury Sport & Leisure, giving the trust valuable insight into what children and young people with disabilities wanted.
Personal development
ORGANISATION Valley Leisure
PROJECT Explore Outdoor
V
alley Leisure’s outdoor adventure activity programme, Explore Outdoor, enables eight- to
14-year-olds to participate in instructor- led activities such as canoeing, archery, climbing, bushcraft, and orienteering to develop map skills. Valley Leisure has worked with
over 50 community and school- based groups in the last two years to deliver their ‘learning outside the classroom’ curriculum – a personal development curriculum that supports the government’s Learning Outside the Classroom initiative, designed to ensure that every young person experiences the world beyond the classroom as part of learning and development.
Recent developments from Valley
Leisure include a three-day camping residential for 70 local secondary school children, and termly Year 5 primary school Adventure Days, which throughout the year build on skills such as teamwork and communication. “Ofsted’s review into outdoor
learning found that the majority of schools offering outdoor learning
adventure experiences were as a five- day residential trip for Year 6 pupils,” says James Blyth, Valley Leisure’s assistant manager for sport and activity development. “Ofsted found the more exposure to adventure activities young people have, the more they get out of the five-day trip. We’re therefore not competing with trips, but rather offering an opportunity to complement and develop skills on a more frequent basis.” Research in the Test Valley area had
shown that one of the reasons schools didn’t regularly visit leisure facilities was because of the costs involved, not only for the activity but for transportation too. Valley Leisure therefore boosted the success of Explore Outdoor by purchasing a mobile climbing wall, Land Rover, 10 Canadian Canoes, mobile archery solution and other equipment. Explore Outdoor now delivers tailored
The outdoor activities help build key life skills 50 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
sessions to special needs schools, scout groups, local rehabilitation services, NEET groups, Pupil Referral Units and local events in Test Valley.
Issue 4 2013 © cybertrek 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84