Sussex Rehab Centre hosted a Children’s Event this month for young users of the Centre. Here is a write up of the day kindly provided by prosthetist Clare Johnson.
Centre staff arranged a sport and wellbeing event in the half term holidays for children and their families. This was held at the Brighton Sussex Rehabilitation Centre, provided by Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. Funding for the event came from Coasting Together (the Centre’s user group), Darren (a client at the centre) and the prosthetic contractor Blatchford. All contributed to make the day memorable.
One of the most important aims of the day is that the children and parents, along with siblings and family members can gather in an informal setting to meet each other and exchange experiences. The main theme for this year was focused on sport inclusion, healthy eating and musical participation inspired by the one-handed musical instrument group.
The event was represented by the Tennis Foundation, headed by coaches from the Regional Disability Development Team, promoting participation of the sport in Sussex. Clubs such as The Weald, Hassocks, have wheelchair access to the courts and hold regular sessions for those with a variety of disabilities.
The tennis session was followed by football skills and drills from Albion in the Community. Here, several of the children showed how adept they are at dribbling and shooting and tested their skills against Gully, the Brighton & Hove Albion mascot.
Not to be outdone, the Sussex County Cricket Club introduced their own favourite, Sid the Shark to score a few runs against our willing participants.
Lunch, kindly funded sponsored by the Centre’s user group, Coasting Together, provided a chance for everyone to make their own healthy snacks. Supported by centre staff, healthy wraps, fruit animals and hedgehog rolls were eagerly made and consumed by the children, after which they were ready to start the afternoon program.
Limb Power provided a Paralympian medal winner to conduct some drills and exercises. Small hurdles were placed in the reception area and the children were taught and encouraged to clear the jumps. The coach was a big hit and hopefully, together with ‘Welly’, our very own international dance teacher/performer who showcased her talents, we will hold a few workshops at the centre in the near future.
Meanwhile, our one-handed musician session was going extremely well.
And finally…..
Thank you to Darren, for sponsoring our soft play session.
Coasting Together 