Monday 18th February 2008
On Saturday 9th February 2008, The Pemberton Centre in Rushden, East Northamptonshire demonstrated their commitment to providing and enhancing inclusive sport and physical activity opportunities by hosting an Inclusive Taster Day.
The event, organised by Cultural Community Partnerships (CCP) and supported by the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) and Northamptonshire Sport was designed to provide an opportunity for disabled people to try a variety of different sports and physical activities and to experience the facilities which gained IFI accreditation back in 2005. The day was a huge success, attracting a total of 136 people throughout the day, aged between 8 and 84 years and participants themselves acknowledging "how lovely it was to see so many different disabled people participating in physical activity together".
There were a variety of different sports and physical activities on offer throughout the day including Archery, Boccia, Kurling, Trampolining, Table Tennis and Line Dancing which all proved very popular. In addition to this, Dynamo Northants Wheelchair Basketball Club supported the event and provided the opportunity for participants to get involved with some wheelchair basketball with the hope of attracting some new members to the club. Throughout the day, fitness staff were kept busy delivering IFI gym inductions to disabled people, this was based on a booking procedure and was fully subscribed to all day. Staff are pleased to report that feedback was very positive with many people indicating that they would like to use the gym on a regular basis, one group representative summarised their experience in the gym by stating that "the staff are excellent, very confident, adaptable and patient with a good use of equipment. We are looking forward to visiting again".
Recognising the importance of now sustaining the opportunities available to disabled people within The Pemberton Centre, feedback was collected during the event to establish the demands for certain activities within the facility. Response to this was very high and has allowed the facility to initiate plans for the development of an inclusive multi activity session to be launched at the end of March 08.
Amy Smith, East Midlands Regional Inclusive Activator for the IFI was at The Pemberton Centre on Saturday and reports;
"We could never have dreamt that the event would attract so many people. The day was a fantastic success for participants, staff and organisers and it was nice to welcome a couple of young volunteers to the day as well. Speaking to many of the groups and individuals, the majority of people had never used the centre before, highlighting the importance of these events in breaking down barriers and encouraging disabled people to participate in physical activity, I am confident that the Inclusive Taster Day has raised the profile of the inclusive facilities available at the Pemberton Centre and the opportunities available to disabled people. It is encouraging that CCP has wasted no time in initiating developments for an inclusive activity session as a result of the success of this event and the feedback received, there are a number of groups who have already expressed an interest in these so we look forward to seeing you soon."
If you would like further information please contact:
Amy Smith
Regional Inclusive Activator (East Midlands)
0114 257 2060
