Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training: 'I enjoyed the practical session'
Last year, members of staff from Severnside Housing, based Shrewsbury, Shropshire, enjoyed the three hours of practical training plus online resources that make up Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training.
Under the guidance of an experienced tutor from sports coach UK and organised by Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, the workshops were a product of a new relationship forged between the not-for-profit company and the County Sports Partnership.
One participant, Community Development Officer Ejiro Abboh, tells the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) why he took the training and how he has found it beneficial.
Ejiro’s testimonial:
I attended the training on behalf of Severnside Housing. The workshop was busy, with up to 20 people also in attendance from a variety of different backgrounds.
As I am involved in supporting football delivery, I wanted to attend the training in order to learn and develop new ways of making football inclusive to everyone, regardless of ability.
I expected to learn different methods that could be used in making football more inclusive. I wanted to gain as much knowledge as possible on how I could make things easier for participants to take part in sporting activities without singling them out because of their ability.
I enjoyed the practical sessions and activities, learning and developing how to get people engaged in sport through basic warm-ups and games that could be easily adapted to make them appropriate and fun. Some of the activities we tried involved using equipment and others did not – this was good to learn as it could be very effective with all ages and ability groups.
I also learned how easily you can include people in activities by making a number of basic and simple changes to your sessions. You don’t want to make anyone feel like the spotlight is on them for not being able to complete a task.
There are so many ways of achieving this, as long as you are able to communicate it, demonstrate it and be able to give the participants the option to adapt and change as needed.
Since enjoying the Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training I have applied simple and effective practical changes throughout my delivery. It is brilliant, especially where I am delivering sessions for younger children, as it makes it more interactive and also more fun.
I have been encouraging participants to be more creative as a way of everyone being able to showcase a skill with the football that everyone else can copy. This has worked well as it could be anything with the ball, from throwing and catching, to bouncing or by doing kick-ups.
If you want to develop your delivery and improve activities so they become inclusive for anyone to take part in without feeling uncomfortable about their ability, then this training is definitely for you!
Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training, part of Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All, is a creative, informal and informative workshop. It is designed to improve the skills and confidence of those who support disabled people to be more active. For more information phone the EFDS Active Kids for All team on 01509 227751.
