No one left on the bench at Bisham Abbey
There are moments in my role at Power2Inspire that serve as incredible reminders of why we do what we do. Our recent PowerHouseGames at Bisham Abbey was one of those moments.
Everyone involved
Returning to the national sports centre for the fourth time, we were once again welcomed by an impressive team of partners and volunteers, all coming together by the belief that sport should be inclusive, accessible and fun for everyone. No one should be left on the bench.
Students from four local schools took part in a day of sport and connection, supported by volunteers from Serco Leisure and Sport in Mind. Together they tried out a brilliant range of activities including new age kurling, seated volleyball, touch rugby, parkour, boccia and goalball.
Supporting and encouraging
It’s always inspiring to students from an array of schools working together, this time it included Furze Platt Junior School, Bisham CoE Primary, Manor Green School and The Marist. It was a day full of energy, laughter and learning.
One of the most powerful things to witness was the way everyone worked together, learning and encouraging each other.
Exciting new activity!
I feel immense pride seeing teams being formed and relationships built on shared experience rather than ability.
To that end – we included Parkour as one of our inclusive activities. It was the first time we’d included Parkour, which is effectively moving as quickly and efficiently from one place to another. This was only possible thanks to the team (Sam, Tom and Callum) at Parkour UK
Leading by example
I want to thank Serco Leisure for sponsoring the event, especially the IT team who gave their time so generously to lead the teams and be so inspiring themselves. Their enthusiasm and openness helped make the day so meaningful for the young people taking part.
Thanks also go to Living Tennis, who sponsored the venue, and to Laurie, Howard and Alex and the team at Bisham Abbey who made the event happen. Everyone went above and beyond to make sure every participant felt welcome and supported.
Building for better
At Power2Inspire, we believe sport has the power to bring people together and build stronger, more inclusive communities. The PowerHouseGames are just one way we put that belief into action, and we’re already looking forward to returning next year.
Because when everyone gets the chance to take part, no one is left on the bench.
What are PowerHouseGames?
PowerHouseGames are incredible sports days using adapted games and sports, with activities designed to be accessible and fun for everyone, old and young, with disabilities and none, sporty and not. Participants are encouraged to test their beliefs about ability and disability and what it is to be different, to learn to respect other people’s differences, and Power2Inspire works with them to challenge their assumptions of what they can and cannot do.
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
Would your university sports team, or school love to be involved in a PowerHouseGames? Could your company support our mission by volunteering at one of our PowerHouseGames? If so, then we would love to hear from you. We are also always looking out for people willing to fundraise for Power2Inspire through their own inspiring means. Or, you could volunteer individually at one of our events, or you could give to the ongoing work of Power2Inspire. There are SO MANY WAYS we can all help to ensure “no on else is left on the bench!” Click the button here to find out more.
Festival of Inclusive Boccia 2023
Amazing festival of Inclusive Boccia with P2I ambassador Archie Eaton
After last year’s successful Festival, we ran our second Festival of Inclusive Boccia on April 15th 2023 – an event we hope will be an annual one from now on! We had over 50 participants making up 12 teams of 4-5 players at the brilliant Cambridge University Sports Centre – the teams ranging from expert all the way through to beginner.
Once again, it was wonderful to see so many people having fun and playing Boccia, regardless of experience or ability.
Peterborough Boccia Club returned with six teams for this event, up from three last year, whilst CADMUS entered three teams. The Cambridge Tennis Club (who will help us run the Festival of Inclusive Tennis on 15th July 2023) entered a side, our amazing Ambassador Archie Eaton – no. 2 in the country in his category – came with an impressive team, and our fantastic Trustee Gemma Thake combined with a number of individual sign ups to make a ‘super team’.
The more experienced teams and players helped to encouraged and teach the wider range of participants to ensure they all had fun whilst playing – the group games eventually leading to a seeded knockout where the games became more competitive! Peterborough’s experience shone through, with two of their teams competing in a thrilling cup final, where a tight contest was won in an extra ‘end’ after tying initially.
As always, the key was inclusion and fun – and making sure no one was left on the bench. Our mission is to embed inclusive sport, bringing all to play together, regardless of age, gender, faith, sexual orientation or ability, in the community. The Festival of Inclusive Boccia brings many of those people to play a non-mainstream sport, showcasing our mission in action. Everyone left with smiles on their faces, and we hope they left with the bug for Boccia!
As always we wish to extend a huge thank you to all the participants and volunteers who made the whole thing possible, and to Cambridge University Sports Centre for hosting us again.
If you are inspired for inclusive sport then do join us at one of our other upcoming Festivals of Inclusive Sport:
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Festival of Inclusive Boccia 2022
What a day! After an enforced delay from January due to Covid, we held our first Festival of Inclusive Boccia on Saturday 9th April. We had over 50 participants making up 14 teams of 3-5 players at the Cambridge University Sports Centre, and it was wonderful to see so many people having fun and playing boccia, regardless of experience (many were playing for the very first time) or ability.
The January date was to coincide with CADMuS (The Cambridge Adult Disability Multi Sport Club) 7th year anniversary, having had its first ever session on 24th January 2015. They had celebrated their 5th Anniversary in 2020 with their first ever fixture against another sports club – hosting Peterborough Boccia Club on that day. Peterborough Boccia Club returned with three teams for this event – Matt Taylor and his teams helped to encouraged, teach, and engage with the wide range of participants to ensure they all had FUN playing Boccia. Indeed, their experience shone through, with two of their teams competing in a thrilling cup final, where the purple team won a tight contest 6-3.
The key was, and is, inclusion. Our mission is to embed inclusive sport, bringing all to play together, regardless of age, gender, faith, sexual orientation or ability, in the community. Watching groups of people with a range of abilities playing a non-mainstream sport showcased this mission in action. We had wheelchair users, people with learning disabilities, Down’s syndrome, prosthetics users, and older and younger non-disabled players. They all left with smiles on their faces, and we hope they left with the bug for Boccia!
Such was the fun – after all Power2Inspire’s No.1 Rule is “To have FUN!” – we have already committed to host the festival again in 2023: Watch this space for the date!
Finally, we wish to extend a huge thank you to all the participants and volunteers who made the whole thing possible.
If you’re now inspired for Inclusive Sport then do join us at our next big event:
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With special thanks to Paul Sanwell at OP Photographic for his incredible photography on the day. All photos used with permission
P2I Strategy Day 2022
On Saturday 5th February the Power2Inspire Trustee and Executive Team embarked on their annual strategy day. Buoyed by a successful 2021 – on a number of levels – there was a lot to discuss and plenty of excitement in the room.
As the charity seeks to grow both in scale of impact and beyond the current reliance on our founder, John Willis, the day was vitally important in making some key decisions on how Power2Inspire would go about that.
Some excellent progress was made and we are looking forward to making some key announcements in the coming weeks and months – so do keep an eye on what we are doing!
About the day, Founder and CEO John Willis said
“It was such a thrill on so many levels to have a trustees’ meeting in person on 5th February. It was lovely to see everybody, especially our two relatively new trustees – Gemma Thake and Richard Hill. It was fantastic that we were joined by two of our greatest supporters, Dan Blackburn and Mark Howarth, whose insights really helped develop the strategy setting sessions. And it was exciting to create a plan for the growth of the charity”
If you’re now inspired for Inclusive Sport then do join us at our next big event:
No event found!
Benefits of sponsoring Power2Inspire
Hear from our CEO, Alex Laybourne, about the benefits of sponsoring Power2Inspire, and the impact is has.
I often tell people our charity isn’t just about bringing disabled people together, but bringing the whole community together. A great example of this was showcased at our recent Festival of Inclusive Golf, where the local community came together to play accessible adaptations of golf, including a wonderful family from Ukraine who were being hosted by our guests. The Ukrainian family had not played any form of golf before, and commented on what an honour it was to be able to play amongst a friendly group of people of all abilities. This is true inclusion.
Our corporate sponsors are the heartbeat of Power2Inspire and allow us to continue delivering events that have such a significant social impact. Sponsorship ensures we can deliver on our mission of bringing people together people from different backgrounds, of all abilities, old and young, disabled and not, to play inclusive sport together in a variety of ways.
Corporate sponsors can get involved by sponsoring our Festivals of Inclusive Sports, SuperSensory1k events, by hosting their own station at our sports days or sponsoring a PowerHouseGames and bringing along volunteers to run the session. You can find out more about the events coming up, here.
We always like to encourage our corporate sponsors to get involved with the event they have invested in. By immersing themselves in the fun, this allows sponsors to get a real feel for our charity and what we do. It also provides sponsors and volunteers with valuable professional development opportunities – by completing our diversity and inclusion training and getting hands-on experience of embracing a leadership position working with people with disabilities and special educational needs.
It gives people the opportunity to impact meaningfully in their community. By taking part, they’re embedded in the heart of what we do, and can see what their sponsorships donations have helped to achieve.
We are so grateful to all of the businesses and organisations who invest in helping our charity to ensure everyone is afforded the opportunity to take part in sport. The work we do would not be possible without your support. Thank you for helping us ensure no-one is left on the bench.
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
If you would like to deliver on your corporate social responsibility goals, benefit from inclusion and diversity training and make meaningful impact on your community, we’d love to hear from you.
Click the button here to find out more.
Alex Laybourne
CEO