Late August, Access Sport supported the fourth annual Cerebral Palsy Plus Health and Wellbeing Day at St Pauls Leisure Centre down in Bristol. The event highlighted the varied and exciting sporting opportunities on offer for young disabled people in the local area.

With Access Sport supporting Cerebral Palsy Plus, the Ignite team delivered inclusive sport to over 70 young disabled people and their families. The day gave these young people, often excluded from local sport, the opportunity to try their hand at 10 different sports as well as the chance to relax and unwind with inclusive yoga and massages throughout the day.

The inclusive taster sessions were delivered by clubs supported by Access Sport in Bristol, with club leaders offering fun and innovative games to engage the participants. Bristol Adaptive Martial Arts joined the event for the first time, giving the young disabled people the opportunity to try a sport which is not stereo-typically seen as being inclusive.

The Health and Wellbeing Day was also supported by staff member from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, who have been volunteering weekly at local Henbury Boccia Club. It was a great opportunity to show case how Access Sport works within corporate partnerships to broaden awareness of inclusive sport for young disabled people. Irwin Mitchell advocates disability sport through their ‘Don’t Quit, Do It’ campaign, encouraging people with disabilities to participate in sport to gain the the psychological, social and rehabilitative benefits from regular physical activity participation. Access Sport fully supports this campaign, with some of our colleagues pledging to ‘Don’t Quit, Do It!’.

The partnership between Access Sport’s Ignite Programme in Bristol and Cerebral Palsy Plus continues to grow, and is one we can both be proud of. The fourth Health and Wellbeing day was a great success engaging young disabled people and their families into inclusive sport. We look forward to supporting them through our inclusive sports opportunities and are already excited to support Cerebral Pasly Plus at the next Health and Wellbeing Day in 2018!

Thank you to everyone who came down to volunteer and support the day, without you events like this would not be possible!

If you want to find out more about the Ignite programme or our inclusive sports opportunities in Bristol, please contact [email protected].