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Babergh District Council’s vision of culture and sport for all is a trailblazer set to be spread nationwide, through a special event next month.
Babergh’s ‘Culture and Sport for Hard to Reach Groups’ Learning Open Day takes place at Great Cornard Upper School Sports Centre on February 1. Local authority Culture & Sport representatives from across the country are due to attend.
The event aims to show how Babergh has made sport accessible to everyone, regardless of age and ability. There will be a boxing demonstration by Great Cornard Upper School pupils and Sudbury Boxing Club, and a fitness session taken by East Bergholt Inclusive Fitness Initiative. An athletics competition will see children from Hillside Special School in Sudbury test their skills against pupils from Belstead and Thomas Wolsey Special Schools in Ipswich.
Guest speakers will include Helen Smith, an Anglia Television news reporter and Patron of the Be Active Project, Rex Thake, Babergh District Council chairman, and Michael Foley, headteacher at Great Cornard Upper School.
Greg Cooper, Community Development Officer (Leisure Inclusion) at Babergh, heads up the Be Active project. He said: “These are exciting times for the initiative, as we expand to offer more services across the district. It demonstrates how culture and sport can make a difference to people’s lives and create strong, inclusive communities. The positive feedback we’ve received from participants and organisers speaks for itself.”
Babergh’s Be Active Leisure Inclusion Project began in 2002 as an 18-month pilot scheme and has reached over 500 vulnerable people since it was made a permanent initiative by Babergh in October 2004. The project aims to support vulnerable social groups – particularly youths at risk of offending and people with disabilities – and was awarded its much coveted ‘Beacon’ status by the Government in March 2006.
Be Active highlights to date include the development of new clubs, a coach mentoring programme and youth referral scheme, which have all helped support activity across the district and provide positive opportunities within the community. .
Jill Barton, Corporate Support Officer at Babergh District Council, is co-ordinating the event.. She said: “Babergh is rightly proud of its Beacon success with hard to reach groups’, and we are keen to spread our message of inclusion to as many local authorities as possible.”
Babergh’s ‘Culture & Sport for Hard to Reach Groups’ Open Day -
Making Leisure Inclusion Work – A Rural Approach, takes place at Great Cornard Upper School Sports Centre on Thursday, February 1, 2007, from 9.30am.
The event is not open to the public – although the day’s findings will be made available to residents across the district at a later date.
More information on Babergh's Be Active Leisure Inclusion Project.
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