Caudwell Children funding available for specialist sports equipment
Caudwell Children, the national charity that provides practical and emotional support to disabled children and their families, is calling on disabled athletes who need specialist sports equipment to contact them.
The charity’s Enable Sport programme provides specialised sports equipment to disabled children and young people who are actively competing in sport.
And the charity says that it would welcome applications, for a range of equipment, from interested athletes.
Elaine Revans, from Caudwell Children’s Applications Team, explained:
“Most people recognise the physical and social benefits of children actively participating in sport. Unfortunately, specialist equipment to help disabled children compete can cost up to 100 times more than non-disabled people's equivalent. Therefore, cost is a real barrier to participation!
“In response to this we’ve created our Enable Sport programme to give every disabled child, irrespective of their ability, the opportunity to reach their potential in sport. As a result we can now provide 80% of the total cost of any piece of equipment.”
Adaptive equipment is a prerequisite for a number of sports including basketball, football, rugby, tennis, athletics and archery. This means that many disabled athletes are desperately in need of specialist equipment, such as wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.
Elaine, was keen to stress the success of the Enable Sport programme. She said:
“We have provided specialist racing and basketball chairs for members of the Paralympic team. We’ve also funded a javelin, prosthetic arm and training equipment for Hollie Arnold, the GB Gold Medal winner at the IPC World Championships in Lyon in 2013.
“But it’s not just about elite athletes. We will support any child or young person as long as they are currently competing. They may require an individually designed starting block, or a set of boccia balls, either way we are dedicated to increasing the number of disabled children participating in sport across the country.”
Elaine is asking athletes to contact her directly and says that the charity is determined to support even greater numbers. As she concluded:
“By 2016 we want to have provided £1 million worth of disability sports equipment, developing talent across a variety of sports. It’s a big challenge but it’s one we relish and we will continue to give children a sporting chance!”
