This just in from Clare at West Wight Sports Centre. Welcome news for families with disabled children. Ed
West Wight Sports Centre to provide short break activities for families with disabled children.
West Wight Sports Centre is offering weekly swimming sessions for families with disabled children throughout the school holidays.
Through a partnership with the Isle of Wight Council and NHS Isle of Wight they are providing a range of planned short breaks for disabled children, thanks to funding provided by the Aiming High for Disabled Children scheme.
Initially the project will allow families with disabled children to swim during a special session every Friday in the school holidays from 10 – 11am starting on July 23rd.
Support extended to term time
There are plans to extend this session to a weekly term time session and also to be able to provide better access to swimming lessons for disabled children either through additional support during mainstream lessons or through private one-to-one lessons. There will also be music-based sessions in the pool.
To support the project staff are being trained in the Halliwick method of swimming; a specialised method of teaching disabled people to enjoy and benefit from being in water as well as general disability awareness training being provided for all staff.
Image: Dennis Wong under CC BY 2.0
