Share students get active thanks to Sport England grant

Sport England logo

Building on our Healthy Living Project, we are delighted to have been awarded a new grant from Sport England to enable our students to take part in even more sport and exercise sessions this year.

Thanks to this grant, our Basic Skills students will be visiting Herne Hill Velodrome to attend regular cycling sessions led by Wheels for Wellbeing, a charity specialising in inclusive cycling. The accessible bikes will enable the whole group to take part in cycling which helps to increase confidence, as well as fitness levels. They’ll also be using the experience to practise their learning in the Basic Skills course by collecting data while attending their cycling sessions. This might include, for example, recording how many laps they do and how confident they feel as a result of the sessions. This all contributes to their module on data collection and means that they are able to learn in a really practical and fun way, while getting fit at the same time.

The grant will also allow our students to take part in chair-based keep fit sessions throughout the year. These are a really accessible way for everyone to exercise and provide a relaxing end to the day at Share. The group meets each Thursday at 3pm and makes use of Share's Immersive Learning Space to project music and images into the space to help improve general wellbeing. The sessions are helping students to improve fitness and coordination in a gentle and inclusive way.

In addition, the grant will bolster this year's exercise programme by providing exercise, movement and dance sessions for Share students. Delivered by Movement Works, these sessions use Autism Movement Therapy, which is designed to use optimal movement for improving brain function and are fully inclusive. They optimise physical development to accelerate learning and to enhance communication. These weekly sessions take place each Tuesday at 3pm and help with coordination and wellbeing, and are particularly beneficial for our students with autism.

The grant has also enabled us to launch two new exercise sessions at the Share Garden for our horticulture students, including yoga on Mondays and Disability Sports Coach sessions on Thursdays. These sessions will make use of the beautiful outdoor space available at our Garden and aim to improve our students' wellbeing, fitness, coordination and balance.

To find out more about Share's Healthy Living Project, contact Jenny Bourlet via email jennyb@sharecommunity.org.uk

 

Back to News