Thank you to The Herts Inclusive Sports Initiative for your incredible £500 grant supporting our Get Active sports club for people aged 16+ years and over with learning disabilities and special additional needs.
During the funding period we have welcomed 15 members to our Get Active Sports Club. Get Active has brought our members with learning disabilities and special additional needs together to exercise regularly in a supportive environment. Club members have enjoyed trips to our local bowling alley, crazy golf course and taken part in imagination dance sessions. Other activities in the club have included yoga, hockey, circuit training, basketball, rugby, volleyball, cricket and much more. We have run a couple of trial sessions of Giant Paddle Board Tennis which has proven to be a real hit with our members.
The club is currently staffed by our dedicated Club Leader, Deputy Club Leader and Club Assistant. They are supported by six fantastic regular volunteers. Our club staff plan different activities every week to engage our members and build upon their sporting skills and achievements.
This term we have promoted fitness and had such fun introducing some new activities such as giant volleyball, karate sessions lead by an external instructor and trying out some new breathing techniques in yoga to promote improved mental and physical health.
On top of these exciting new activities our members have visited and collaborated with local sporting clubs and venues. We have had multiple visits and sessions with The Bishop’s Stortford Tennis Club and The Bishop’s Stortford Cricket Club. Enabling our members to integrate into the community and play sports they really enjoy. Our Get Active members are booked in and looking forward to returning to both of these clubs in the summer.
On behalf of everyone at Grove Cottage, thank you once again for the support and funding from The Herts Inclusive Sports Initiative. There is a lack of provisions of activities for people with learning disabilities locally and we are the only organisation of our kind in Hertfordshire providing lifelong support to our members. Your funding has enabled us to continue providing our weekly inclusive sport club for our members and to bridge the gap in services available locally to them. Whilst we are affiliated with Mencap we receive no funding from the national body and have independent accounts. Grove Cottage relies on the funding from our valued supporters such as yourselves.