Multi-sport sessions for children with disabilities or special educational needs in Hastings who struggle with mainstream sport have made a ‘significant impact’.
The 12 multi-sport sessions for young people aged six to 15 were organised by Active Hastings, delivered by Defiant Sports, and funded, in part, by the Children and Young People Investment Fund.
The project was created following consultation with young people and their families in the area which highlighted the fact there were sport-specific opportunities, such as cricket or football but none that covered a range of sports.
In a report on the project, Active Hastings, which is part of Hastings District Council, said: “Feedback from participants, their parents and the coaches has shown that the sessions have had a significant impact on the lives of the young people involved.
“The sessions have broken down barriers to participation and have enabled the young people to increase their physical activity levels outside of school.
“Parents have commented that there is nothing else in the area that caters to their children’s needs, and that this session has given the young people something fun to look forward to each week.
“The session also enables siblings and parents to take part, which has been fantastic for family bonding.”
One parent added: “The leader has an excellent approach to the young persons, to include and involve them in a wide range of activities. We are happy there is a session for people with disabilities.”
10 girls and eight boys attended the sessions, which ran between January and March, with 95 per cent of those attending living in areas that fall within the 10 per cent most deprived nationally.
Active Sussex awarded the project £793 from the Children and Young People Investment Fund.
This enabled Active Hastings to build up the numbers, and engage with young people from a range of schools, including The Flag Ship School and Saxon Mount, which are local special schools.
As well as the needs of those young people attending special schools, Active Hastings were aware there were high numbers of home-schooled young people with additional needs, who were missing out on the opportunity to take part in sport, as they were not in a school environment to do this.
The session offered a variety of sports from basketball, football, cricket, tag rugby, target games and games to improve fundamental movement skills, with all the sports adapted to the needs of the young people to make them truly inclusive.
The sessions followed the ethos of the Play Their Way campaign, allowing the young people to decide the structure of the sessions and the activities included and develop their leadership skills.
The project organisers said: “Over the course of the project there has been a noticeable change in the confidence of the young people involved in the session.
“Young people who were nervous and unsure about joining in at the beginning, are thriving in the sessions and joining in confidently now.
“We have also seen a significant improvement in the way that the young people work in groups. They are learning to work together, be aware of each other’s needs and support each other to be active.”
The sessions helped create links with the Hollington Youth Hub for the young people and their families, resulting in some participants joining Street Dance classes and Youth Hub sessions at the centre, after becoming comfortable in the venue and with the staff there.
It also created a relationship between Defiant Sports and Hollington Youth Hub, who have since brought Defiant Sports over to the centre to support with their HAF provision.
The main challenge Active Hastings found was the acoustics in the hall – something that will be considered for future projects.
“Because the acoustics were not great, this sometimes caused some young people to shout, which could be overwhelming for some of the young people,” explained Active Hastings.
“The team were able to deal with this, but it required regular reminders to the young people to keep calm.”
Case study:
‘A’ attended the sessions since the start. He was severely autistic, with limited communication skills and when he first came along to the session, he was incredibly nervous.
He was particularly nervous around balls and would flinch if one came near him. Through working with him, and introducing him to a wide range of activities at the right level for him, his confidence grew significantly.
He went from flinching when anything came near him, to catching a balloon, and was finally able to catch a ball.
Having ‘A’ in the session was also beneficial to the other participants as some of the more energetic participants learnt they needed to be calm and considerate around him.
A’s dad brought him to the session each week and said that it was the only activity ‘A’ took part in outside of school each week. He loved that it was targeted to his son’s needs and enjoyed seeing him grow in confidence each week.
The session also enabled them to spend time together doing something fun.