I think most of you know that my approach as chair has been to try and give something back to the community that keeps us engaged.  Part of this is working with the nominated charity, Aspire, to see how we can contribute to the work they do.

 

You may be aware that at the charity dinner we raised over £14,000 so I had the pleasure of visiting Aspire at their national training centre to discuss how this money will affect the charity.  Before I arrived I thought I understood the work they do but until you actually see the work in action you really don’t know how an organisation looks after people who have suffered a life changing incident.

 

So the smart bit that really should not have been a shock?  This is a gym where membership costs £43 per month.  This is not a charity that relies solely on handouts.  This is an organisation that recognises that disabled people who have suffered a spinal cord injury (SCI) have a need for a gym just like those who have not suffered an SCI.  So this facility recognises that it is about inclusion and means that instead of cramming as much equipment in as possible, it’s about accessible equipment, space to park a wheelchair and having equipment that can be manipulated to move a seat so a wheelchair can be moved into the equipment.

 

You approach the facilities through the car park and past the swimming pool.  You enter into the reception area that is just like any gym reception, the pool has a ramp entrance where wheelchair users have access by taking their chair straight into the depth they are comfortable with and then exiting.  By the side of the ramp entrance is the main pool.  Set up with lanes like any pool.  At the time I visited, 3 of the lanes were being used by school children having swimming lessons, probably 30 kids.

 

On the other side of reception was the sports hall.  When I arrived there was a wheel chair rugby taster game going on. I walked round the spectator area on the upper level watching the training that was happening below.  When their time was up, a group of ladies came in to play netball.  Essentially, the sports hall is rented out to anybody who needs it.

 

Yes there are extra bits to the building that link it to the hospital SCI unit and there are specialists physios working with patients in these fantastic facilities.  However, other than these extra people the classes being run are very similar, so you might see a spinning class with some people on normal bikes and some on hand bikes but the class is still being run the same.

 

There is more though.  Here training is given to help those people in a wheelchair qualify as fitness instructors.  They can then work in the community.  One such is Val who often surprises new members who turn up for their gym induction to find a disabled middle aged lady showing them how to use the machines.  There is specialist equipment as well for those unable to weight bear on their legs but this is really just another machine in a special gym.

 

Aspire have very kindly invited us to join their committee that deals with how grants are handed out so we will know exactly where the money raised is going and the impact it will have on that persons live.  I’ll be providing updates on how that goes over the coming months but in the meantime, if your office is looking for a charity this year then think about Aspire and if you want to be the one that helps decide where the money will be spent in one of the regular meetings, please let me know.  For me personally, I know I’ll be riding uphill for 21km (if only it was 21km in all instead of 130km!) for a damn good cause and if you want to sponsor me for this then my Just Giving page is at www.justgiving.com/Craig-Budsworth2.