Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training 'is very rewarding'
Every week, new participants are taking part in Inclusive Community Training, part of the Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All scheme, a creative, informal and informative workshop.
For minimal cost, you can attend a three-hour face-to-face session with a qualified tutor, designed to improve the skills and confidence of those who support disabled people to help them to be more active.
George Timotheou, a sports coach based in Barnet, north London, is one of our 50 strong tutor network.
“EFDS introduced the Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training to me,” George told the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS).
“It matched my own thinking around inclusive practice, so I was keen to get involved. I became a tutor through sports coach UK and I’m now delivering the workshop.”
The course provides first-step training to support the likes of parents, carers and personal assistants, healthcare professionals, volunteers and community based groups and organisations.
Importantly, it is targeted to participants who are not already sports coaches, and George insists that an important part of the tutor’s job is to make it accessible for all.
“The thing that’s most important at the start of a Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training session is for the tutor to establish who everyone is, and where they’re each at with their levels of knowledge and confidence,” he says.
“Just as you’re asking the participants to think about how they will introduce physical activity and sport when they go back into their workplaces, you as the tutor also have to think about and change your delivery style to meet the needs of individuals within the group.”
George, who has an extensive network of coaching contacts across north London after taking up professional coaching in 2005, says the adaptability of Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training means everyone should be able to enjoy the learning experience.
“If someone’s attending who isn’t very sporty or who doesn’t do much physical activity themselves, this isn’t seen as a barrier to attend at all,” he insists.
"I chose to take up more and more disability specific coaching"
George was inspired to take up sports coaching having seen the standard of his son’s local youth football team.
“My children were playing grassroots football, and I saw some things I didn’t like, including managers arguing on the touchline about the kids, and not just letting them play football. So I moved my kids to another club, did my badges and started managing the team.
“Whilst a community coach at Tottenham Hotspur, I chose to take up more and more disability specific coaching and I found out very quickly it was very rewarding.
“It taught me to understand and respond to differences in people. When I’d returned to mainstream coaching, alongside disability coaching, all those skills and experiences made me a better overall coach.”
And just as George found coaching disability sport improved his overall skillset, he believes that Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training can add a great deal to those that support disabled people to develop the ability and self-confidence to introduce physical activity and sport to disabled people.
George himself knows the impact the training can make – going above and beyond his role as a tutor he seeks to stay in touch with those he’s trained, in addition to the support provided through the local County Sport Partnership.
“I always try to remain in contact with anyone I tutor, and I always give out my contact details. Occasionally you get a message. I like to think that if I can make a positive impact on just 20% of the group, then those two in 10 might go away and put into practice what I teach.”
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.
