Team Power2Inspire at the Cambridge Half Marathon 2022
The 2022 Cambridge Half Marathon seemed to come round quickly, but that was mostly due to the delayed running of the 2021 version in October. It was though another early start, as the car park for the charity stalls closes at 7am!
I am thrilled to report that we raised over £2,500. Thanks to:
- our wonderful chair, Jeremy Macklin, who raised £250 and beat his autumn time, and Gemma Thake, another trustee, running for us,
- Scott Annett and his lovely family (who came to support him),
- Kieran John and Daniel Jones from Taylor Vinters who raised a significant sum and have had it matched by their law firm Taylor Vinters,
- Parthiban Vijayarangkaran, a great friend from the Future Business Centre, who was concerned about his lack of training but smashed his autumn time and courtesy of another great Power2Inspire supporter, Alan Barrell, raised over £200, and
- Jess Dykes and Tom Bowen who chose to run for us and raised over £500 together – next time come through us guys and get a reduced-price spot and a glorious Power2Inspire running top!
Thanks too to Bob Barnes for putting up the gazebo; shame it was blown away by the Friday storm. And to Johnny Hebron for supporting us through the day, to Justin and Samantha for buying the snacks so welcomed by the runners, to Dan for wearing the rucksack-with-flag despite the cold and for Steve Shaw for attending to shout for our runners.
Despite the cold, the proximity of the last half marathon and the early start, it was a truly successful event. Thanks to all our fundraisers – I hope it was worth it!
You can watch the official highlights reel of the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon 2022 here.
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
If you would like to support us in our mission to “embed inclusive sport in the sporting, education and community landscapes” then we would love to hear from you. We are always looking out for people willing to fundraise for Power2Inspire through their own inspiring means. Or, you could volunteer at one of our events, or you could give to the ongoing work of Power2Inspire. Click the button here to find out more.
New bookkeeper role announced
We are looking to recruit a new member of the Power2Inspire team. Read on for more details.
Key info:
| Reporting to: | CEO |
| Time required: | Part time, c7.5 hours a week – flexible (can be term time only) |
| Salary: | £18 per hour |
| Contract: | 6 months initial term, then rolling |
| Location: | Home based |
| Deadline: | 5pm, 27 March 2022 |
Summary of Role
Power2Inspire is at the cusp of a period of significant growth. This creates an opportunity for a part time bookkeeper and record keeper to join the team and run the accounts on a day-to-day basis.
Key Responsibilities
Management of the accounts:
- Ability to raise invoices, post bills, post salary and tax payments, reconcile the bank accounts
- Running the payroll
- Responsibility for credit control
- Paying cheques into the bank (usually by post)
- Managing petty cash and expenses
- Managing the recording of donations – mostly from JustGiving
- Preparing and submitting Gift Aid claims
- Preparing management accounts for trustees’ meetings five times a year
- Providing spreadsheet support for any bids applied for
- Assisting the trustees and the auditors in producing the annual accounts
Recording data from our activities:
- Dates, venues, number of attendees, types of activities at events
- Storing qualitative data – quotes, notes, images and videos
Person Specification
As well as your CV, we ask you to submit a covering letter explaining how your personal, academic and work experience show that you will be well suited to the role. Below is the role’s Person Specification. Please address each item and use real life examples of times you have shown that you meet the required skill or experience.
Skills
- Demonstrable proficiency in Xero (preferred), Excel and Office 365
- Ability to work alone and in a small team
- An understanding of accounting systems and procedures
- Experience in producing financial reports
- Experience in running payroll
- Charity experience preferred
Flexible
This role will be home based and can be mostly undertaken at hours to suit the appointee. Arrangements could be made to accommodate limited school holidays working.
To apply, click the button, fill in your details and upload your CV and a covering letter explaining how you meet the Person Specification. Please feel free to use each item on the Person Specification as a heading and explain with real life examples how your experience showcases the skills required.
Littlegarth School Games2Inspire 2022
“We had an amazing day and the children are still talking about it today,”
reported Keith Dawes (Deputy Head, Pastoral), on the Monday following our visit to Littlegarth School on Friday 4th March.
Intrepid volunteers, Patrick Gosling and Tom “I like this school food!” Roper, joined me with an early start to get to Littlegarth, just north of Colchester, Essex.
It was a packed day, all in their spacious sports hall, starting with an assembly for Years 3 and 4. Then these two year-groups, with 40 in each year, played Goalball, New Age Kurling, Sitting Netball and, consistently the most popular through the day, Sitting Volleyball. With sessions lasting about 70 minutes we were able to explain each game, have each pupil get a good go, and have time for a wrap up.
After an excellent lunch in a rather quaint wooden dining hall, we were back to it with an assembly to Years 5 and 6, and then the same games with them.
I was impressed with the enthusiasm of all the teachers and support staff, most choosing to get on their bottoms and play! Some, and here I am pointing my paw at Mr Dawes(!), were really quite competitive, but they did so with grace and an understanding of our ethos, which is to get everyone involved.
Scott Brand, the Independent Schools Association National Sports Officer, came to see the games at first hand and was so impressed he videoed me explaining to Keith Dawes how it all works and why other independent schools should have one.
A big thank you to Kathy Uttley, the Head, as she was having to juggle an inspection and a Nursery Open Day while we were causing mayhem to her curriculum. She was pleased enough to bring the prospective nursery parents around to see the fun the pupils were having – and the decibel level would easily confirm they were learning through fun.
Mr Dawes and I are hatching plans for further activities, which we hope to include a multi-school event playing these adapted games with special needs children. I can’t wait!
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
If you are interested in hosting a Games2Inspire in your school / college / company / community group then we would love to hear from you. As you can read in our Latest News we have even found a way to make our Games2Inspire a success in lockdown so don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can help you plan your very own Games2Inspire!!
Click the button here to find out more.
Loughborough ParaSport Takeover 2022
We were delighted to be invited to deliver a couple of sessions as part of the Loughborough University ParaSport Takeover Week. Goalball and sitting netball were chosen and over a dozen volunteers signed up for each session.
We started with goalball, taking the volunteers through a training version of the game to a limited version of the full game, all within an hour.
The training session, which we use when we deliver our Games2Inspire in schools, uses a bench as a goal, a blindfold for all players and the special balls with bells inside. We pair people so one acts as the player, sitting cross-legged in front of the bench, the other as their eyes, giving, hopefully clear, instructions to the player, from behind the bench.
In this instance we added a mat for the players to sit and lie on, which has the advantage of allowing a dive to be practical, and the disadvantage of creating a lip for the ball to leap from! We start with players practising without blindfolds before sliding them into position.
The key is to encourage the ‘instructors’ to give helpful comments, such as “Right knee”, “Far left”, rather than others heard: “It’s there” pointing, or “Oh, it was left”, after it has smacked the bench.
We progressed to harder rolling of the ball until everyone had had a good go and we had moved the benches together, so it was three against three.
We showed – thanks to my nephew Tom Roper, who was helping and in charge of technology – a video of a Paralympic match to give the players a chance to see how the best play the game. They stand up and deliver the shot by bouncing or rolling the ball as fast as possible at a wider than normal 5-a-side football goal.
We gave the volunteers an opportunity to play using a 5-a-side goal but with sighted helpers stood behind. In the real game there is total silence and no help! But they are allowed to put tape and/or string on the floor to help position themselves (a step we didn’t have time to add). I was pleased this version allowed an experienced player with a visual impairment to play with some who had never played any visually impaired sports before. The response was very favourable and I hope a number will start playing the game.
We are proposing a Festival of Inclusive Goalball with teams of 4 (three playing) to help develop the game. Do contact us if you would like to hear more!
As I claim to have invented Sitting Netball, the rules I choose are the official ones! We try to flex them to make the game as inclusive as possible.
The basic rules are simple:
- Your bottom must be attached to the floor at all times
- If you have the ball, you cannot move
- If you do not have the ball, you can move – in fact you are encouraged to move
- The hoops we use are low ones
- The balls are foam footballs
- We create a circle around each hoop with cones/flat markers, which designate an area that no player can enter. The size of this circle can be changed to reflect the abilities of the players.
- No snatching or tackling – this is a non-combat sport
- To start the referee rolls the ball into the middle of the court and players ‘scoot’ from an agreed line
- Most goals wins.
We played three games of 5 v 5 and then a larger one of 8 v 8. As the visual impaired goalball player had stayed on and finds it hard to see the ball to catch it, we allowed him to go into the ‘exclusion’ zone and be the designated shooter for his team. That meant I was co-opted to play for the other side also sitting in the exclusion zone. It was great fun and wonderful to play it as a full game. It is remarkably tiring, excellent for the core muscles, and for an appreciation of space.
It was a joyful evening so a big thank you to Loughborough Sport and Parasport, to Nik Diaper and Anna Martin. We look forward to returning to deliver a PowerHouseGames with local schools, including special needs students, sportsmen and women from across the university and hopefully the university executive, so they can experience inclusion in action.
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.
Ashingdon Primary Academy Games2Inspire 2022
Patrick and I were joined by my nephew Tom Roper for this visit to Ashingdon Primary Academy, in Essex. We were made most welcome by head teacher Mrs Leasure and Mr Robertson.
The whole school assembly produced some great questions:
How do you brush your teeth?
Who inspired you?
and I was able to demonstrate my tennis, albeit gently. The pupils were particularly taken with the Road2Rio challenge and were badgering their teachers to watch the full video on YouTube afterwards!
It was a full day with Years 2 to 6 all having a session of inclusive sports. I was very pleased when a Year 2 pupil who uses a wheelchair was persuaded to come out of it to join in sitting netball (as goal shooter), goalball (very brave stopping the ball) and new age kurling (adept at using the pusher). His teammates worked hard to include him, living up to our strapline of “No one left on the Bench!”
Adding in Year 2 – to accommodate the young wheelchair user – made the timings tight but we flexed it and made it work, enabling 5 year-groups to experience the fun of playing inclusive sport.
Ashingdon Primary @AshingdonAPA
A truly inspiring visit from John Willis and his team today 💪🏼. A big thank you from Year 5; we loved listening to your amazing stories, hearing how you have overcome challenges and taking part in the sporting activities. #power2inspire
Ashingdon Primary @AshingdonAPA
In Y3 we loved our power2inspire session today. We played sit down netball, goal ball and had a go at curling.
Ashingdon Primary @AshingdonAPA
Y2 have had a brilliant morning with John and his team 🏐🏅👟💛 @Power2InspireUK
Year 4 had an exciting inclusive sports workshop with John and his team @Power2InspireUK
All three of us, but particularly Tom, was bowled over by the school lunch – really tasty sausages and proper mash potato. This set Patrick and I off on reminiscing about truly awful food served back in the 70s and 80s! I take my hat off to the catering staff today who provide excellent meals on a shoestring in a very quick turnaround.
Mrs Leasure completed our day by saying she was emailing local schools in the trust to encourage them to book us while the discount is available. She said the messages were ones all schools would love to have. Thank you!
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
If you are interested in hosting a Games2Inspire in your school / college / company / community group then we would love to hear from you. As you can read in our Latest News we have even found a way to make our Games2Inspire a success in lockdown so don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can help you plan your very own Games2Inspire!!
Click the button here to find out more.