Frequent visitors to the Enterprise Hub will certainly have met fresh-faced Oliver Clayton. Seated attentively at reception, you can be sure Ollie will give you a cheerful greeting upon arrival. Get him going on his favourite subjects (hockey and football) and he’ll keep you amused for ages.
Earlier in the year Ollie became the first person to ride one of Midland Mencap’s hand cycles in Sutton Park. “It was quite cold to start off with, in the snow,” he tells me, before going on to say he peddled in the park for ninety minutes. Was he tired and freezing by the finish? Hardly. He cycles every week, thus building strength and stamina.
Ollie is a seriously active man. An avid swimmer and hockey player, he was a key component of the Midland Mencap Flyerz Hockey Team that won Gold in Amsterdam last year at the 2017 Euro ParaHockey Championship. He hopes to match this achievement in Barcelona, in a few weeks.
In 2015 the Big Flyerz became the first team of adults with learning disabilities to represent England in a recognised tournament. All of the signs indicate they will take Barcelona by storm. With Ollie on board how can they fail?
-Tim Wright, Volunteer Reporter-
Over the weekend Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott won gold and broke a world record at the Rio UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships! Read more about their success on the British Cycling website.
Read below how winning a Helen Scott signed shirt has inspired a young person at Midland Mencap “to ride her bike straight away”!
“As a volunteer for Midland Mencap I get to be involved in lots of great events and spend time with lovely people on a regular basis. It’s the most rewarding thing I do and just before Christmas I saw how it could also have an amazing effect on my ten-year-old daughter.
She came along with me to help out at the ‘Weoley Winterland’ event at the community hub. As well as assisting me with selling jewellery and bows to the many attendees she also enjoyed taking part in the activities and bought herself a raffle ticket.
This turned out to be one of the winning tickets and, being too shy herself, my daughter sent me to collect a prize for her. The one I chose was a cycling shirt signed by Gold Winning Paralympian Tandem Pilot, Helen Scott.
My daughter seemed confused about my choice (I think she had her eye on a box of chocolates!) but when explained what it was she became curious. As soon as we got home we looked up Helen Scott online and found out all about her achievements in tandem cycling in the Paralympics and the Commonwealth Games. My daughter became incredibly excited. She put the shirt on and announced she was going to ride her bike straight away.
Since then, she has told everyone how she won something very special in the raffle at Midland Mencap and she always wears her ‘Helen Scott Cycling Shirt’ for any sporting activity. She’s very proud of it and it’s clear that the story behind it has inspired her.
It goes to show that getting involved at Midland Mencap and the contribution of great role models, like Helen Scott, can make a real difference.”
Over the last three months I’ve been volunteering at Midland Mencap football sessions in Moseley. Over this time I’ve been able to witness the players grow as individuals and as a team.
One person who stood out to me was Bryn, who’s been training with Midland Mencap for over two years now. As a result it came as no surprise to hear that Bryn is an integral part of the teams’ starting line up. So when I asked what position he played he simply responded, “Wherever I’m needed”, in keeping with him and the teams’ positive attitude.
Bryn also mentioned, to my delight, that he felt the volunteers at the weekly football sessions provided meaningful support allowing him to talk confidently and compassionately to them should he have a problem.
Bryn continued, highlighting the importance the sessions have been in his development, stressing the significance the sessions have had on him socially and physically.
It’s evident that football has become an integral part of Bryn’s weekly routine, allowing him to meet people he may not have met otherwise. This is also what Bryn discussed being the best thing about football, with the social aspect allowing him to make key and meaningful relationships.
Daniel Twist, Volunteer Reporter
It has been another busy year for sport at Midland Mencap from the weekly social kick about to representing the West Midlands in the National Special Olympics. And also who can forget the roller coaster of emotions in Amsterdam?
To celebrate and recognise some of these outstanding achievements of our athletes this year on Friday 22nd September we held Midland Mencap’s 4th Annual Sports Awards.
Sports Awards Winners!!
Newcomer Of The Year – Tom Kirby
Tom has started a new sport, trained and played in a Midland Mencap sports team for the first time this year. Tom’s team (the Midland Mencap Hockey Flyerz) won gold at the European Para Hockey Championships in August. A great achievement for Tom this season!
Young Sportsperson of the Year – Ben Twells
Ben has played football and basketball with us before, but this summer he discovered another sport: tennis! Ben has learned new tennis skills really quickly, and it has been a joy to coach him and watch his very rapid development in this sport.
Most Improved Athlete – Anthony Couling
Anthony has been swimming with us for just over a year now, and in this time he has really developed his swimming skills: never an easy thing to do!
Sporting Achievement – Nagina
During the summer Nagina took part in the Special Olympics National Games in Sheffield. Nagina was the first ever Midland Mencap athlete to gain this prestigious honour! Nagina claimed her medal in the MATP (Motor Activities Training Programme) event: this is for athletes with PMLD but is able to provide a suitable challenge for all athletes. A real sporting achievement!
Team Player of The Year – Reece Brackpool
Reece plays football and hockey with us. In Amsterdam, he was a highly valued member of the Flyerz hockey team, with laughter and smiles following him everywhere! He also played some great hockey, despite the fact that he only started this new sport at the turn of the year. A true team player!
Special Recognition Award – Ross Faville
Ross also plays football and hockey with us, but hockey is his favourite sport now! Ross was captain of the victorious hockey team and played every single minute of the tournament. Despite his legs being a bit tired after all that, Ross stepped up and took the winning penalty in the shoot out during the final against Spain. A true captain, sportsman and a great ambassador for hockey
Team of The Year – Hockey
It could only be one team really! The Hockey team followed up their bronze medal from the European Hockey Championships in London in 2015 by going two better and winning gold. Team work, skill, dedication to training, supporting each other and then managing to win a penalty shoot out and a gold medal. A truly unforgettable experience.
12th Man Award – Families / Carers
This was a new award this year to recognise the valuable and sometimes unspoken contribution that all players’ families and carers made. This included getting their loved ones to training, attending meetings with us, fundraising, encouraging, joining in with training and then becoming the team’s very own ‘Barmy Army’ in Amsterdam (where they were the noisiest supporters section and cheered the team throughout the tournament and on to gold!).
Midland Mencap Sports Personality of the Year – Bryn Owen Jones
Bryn is a multi talented sportsman, playing hockey and football, and joining in with swimming. He even goes to the gym on his days off! Bryn simply puts every ounce of effort into playing when he’s on the pitch. A polite, friendly, cheerful man off the pitch, Bryn ran himself into the ground in Amsterdam for his team and also scored one of the penalties in the shoot out. A pleasure to be around, the cheers in the room when this award was announced showed just what a popular winner Bryn was!
This has definitely been a year of amazing sporting achievements and it will be hard to top. However, with the same amount of support and dedication from Steve and Laura, the athletes, our fantastic volunteers and parents and carers, we’ll give it a good go!
If you are feeling inspired to get involved with sports at Midland Mencap, either as an athlete or a volunteer, please contact The Sports Team on 0121 427 6404.
Find our volunteer roles on ‘Do It’ here.
Cycling days at Clifton Road
Families of adults and children with additional needs have been the opportunity to enjoy all the benefits of a family day out cycling in the great outdoors thanks to an innovative new Midland Mencap and Birmingham Wheels for All initiative.
Over the last 18 months, Midland Mencap, in partnership with Birmingham Wheels for All, have hosted a total of 6 cycle days for adults with learning disabilities, children with additional needs, and their parents and siblings. By using specially adapted cycles and Wheels for All trained leaders, the activities are both physically and mentally stimulating, and fun for everyone involved.
Laura Gilmour, Health and Wellbeing Coordinator at Midland Mencap said, “For many families who have a loved one with additional needs, opportunities to take part in an activity together as a family can be few and far between. Our partnership with Birmingham Wheels for All is enabling children and adults with additional needs and all the family to enjoy the benefits of cycling, at any ability, in an inclusive and sociable environment. ”
So far this year, Midland Mencap have hosted 2 open cycling events and more have been scheduled to take place during the summer, giving even more families the opportunity to take part. While this project is primarily Birmingham-based at the moment, there are plans in the pipeline to also make inclusive cycling opportunities available to families further afield in future. Watch this space!
For more information about this exciting new initiative, contact the Midland Mencap Health and Wellbeing team on 0121 427 6404.
Over the course of the February Half Term the Midland Mencap Children and Young Persons service ran 12 sessions delivered at 3 venues and reaching over 100 young people. Our theme for the week was Discovery with the aim that all the children and young people would try or learn something new.
At our venue in Sutton Coldfield we had an inclusive cycling event which was very well received. All our children and young people at the opportunity to ride a bike that was adapted to their needs. Some of these included wheelchair bikes, tandem tricycles and hand powered bikes. Throughout the course of the week they also went swimming, played hockey, enjoyed the cinema, took part in a drama and movement workshop, cooked on outdoor camping trangias and tried an indoor kayaking simulator.
At The Enterprise Hub in Weoley Castle, we had a visit from the Google Expeditions team where we entered the world of virtual reality. Our young people were transported into space one minute then under the sea the next!
At all of our sessions, the children and young people had the chance to do arts and crafts, science experiments, role play with dress up and discovery of sensory activities such as digging for worms and creating fossils!
All the children and staff had a fantastic discovery week and we’re now looking forward to all our upcoming exciting sessions during evenings, weekends and school holidays. If you would like to know more please contact the Children and Young Persons’ Team on 0121 256 1500.
Over 100 people of all ages, many who had never ridden a bike before, attended our accessible cycling day at Clifton Road outdoor Centre, Sutton Coldfield. People were able to try out a wide variety of accessible bikes as well as go on supported 5km rides across Sutton Park. Everyone had a great time and it was lovely to see so many smiling faces. The question on everyone’s lips was “when’s the next one?” Well watch this space!
Friends and family joined Midland Mencap staff, volunteers and members to celebrate The 4th Annual Sports Awards Evening.
2016 celebrated The Year of Participation, and with over 200 sports activities taken place over the year, participation seemed a fitting theme.
MP Richard Burden joined the evenings celebrations which saw Midland Mencap staff presenting players in various award categories.
“By encouraging involvement in a wide range of sports, Midland Mencap are putting inclusion into practice, building confidence and changing lives. It is also great to see real achievements recognised in the Sports Awards,” said Richard.
Winners at this year’s award include:
New member of the year – Salma Begum
Team of the year – Midland Mencap Development football team, players include Kath, Jo, Oliver, Nigel, Rob, Bryn, Jordan, Matthew & Jerome
Most improved athlete – Jordan Chandler
Most Improved athlete– Asim Latif
Sporting achievements – Nigel Smith
Sports personality – Jerome Browne
To find out more about getting involved with sports at Midland Mencap, either as a participant or volunteer, please contact The Sports Team on 0121-427-6404
Here at Midland Mencap we are always looking to increase participation in physical activity! The SEDY (Sport Empowers Disabled Youth) project is an EU Erasmus+ funded project that aims to contribute to increased physical activity of children with SEND, through a better matching of the demand and the supply of sport/hobbies. Take a look at the survey below;
https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=146237057453