Earlier this month, we hosted our second DisAbility Sports Day of 2023, in partnership with Kingston Council, at the YMCA Hawker Centre in Kingston.
Our DisAbility Sports Days are free events and are open to participants aged 5 to adults with any form of disability or special educational need; giving them a chance to try new sports and/or continue with ones they know and love. In addition to building their confidence, they also got the opportunity to meet new friends and socialise with others taking part in the day.
At each DisAbility Sports Day we are joined by a number of other sports providers coming to showcase their activities, like Wheels for All and the Surrey Cricket Foundation.
Despite the rain trying to stop play, 15 different sports and activities were on offer throughout the day, which included cricket, tennis, dance, football, cycling, as well as soft play and sensory play, gym inductions, and a parents' Ahead of the Game Mental Wellbeing workshop. A total of 48 participants plus their families attended the day. The Mayoress also came along to witness the happy smiley faces first hand.
“My son absolutely loves the Wheels For All cycling, he did not stop talking all afternoon about the different bikes. He loves how friendly all of the Fulham team are when he attends, he is actually thinking of playing football, his experience in the past at school have left him scared and feeling not good enough to join in. The supportive and structured activities run today stop him being anxious.” - Parent, DisAbility Sports Day
“At Wheels for All, as our name eludes to, we want cycling to be accessible for as many as possible. So being able to bring along a small selection of our adapted cycle fleet gave us an opportunity to support the well-organised events arranged by Fulham FC. It was great to see some of our regular participants visiting and trying a variety of sports on offer, along with getting in some cycling time! We also enjoyed engaging with new participants, some just for the event, others wanting to attend our sessions at Kingsmeadow in the future. At the Hawker centre event, I had a reasonably new volunteer to our team as support. It was really nice seeing him getting involved and talking so positively about the impact that WfA have on so many people. We would happily support future events, in fact we look forward to them!” - Simon Denton, Kingston Coordinator @ Wheels for All
“It was great to see that through the triumphs and challenges of today, the YMCA Hawker Centre, in partnership with Fulham FC, have shown that the power of sports & community transcends barriers, inspiring us all to reach higher, strive harder and embrace the strength that lies through diverse talent.” - Michelle Edwards, Operations Manager at YMCA Hawker Centre
“We currently run two of these DisAbility Sports Days a year in Partnership with Kingston Council, and we are looking to host further days like this in the other boroughs we work in. They have been a massive success and one that we are so proud to host. These days are designed to give the children, young people and adults that we work with the chance to try lots of different sports and activities all in one day. Or for new participants to come along with their families to learn about what is out there for them. I would also like to thank Kingston Council and the venues like YMCA Hawker Centre and Chessington Sports Centre for their support for our days so far!” - Katy Shephard, DisAbility Development Manager
If you would like more information about our DisAbility Sports Days or any of our other DisAbility Activities get in touch by emailing disability@fulhamfc.com
