Festival of Inclusive Tennis 2021
We are back! After an enforced Covid hiatus we held our first Festival of Inclusive Tennis post-lockdown on Saturday 3rd July. With over 50 participants at the Cambridge University Sports Centre, it was wonderful to see so many people having fun, playing tennis regardless of ability. The tennis festival brought smiles, laughter and lots of fun!
Rob Ellis of the Cambridge Tennis Academy, with his coaching team encouraged, taught, played and engaged with a wide range of participants, instilling fun into tennis. We had wheelchair users, people with learning disabilities, Down’s syndrome, prosthetics users, and older and younger non-disabled players. Some of the youngsters played for well over two hours – clearly they had the Wimbledon bug!
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 players with a range of abilities and backgrounds playing together at this event showcased this mission in action.
“My son and I have just been to the Power2Inspire Inclusive Tennis festival. I had been to many P2I events before, but this is the first time I took my son as he is now grown up.
As always with the other P2I events, we had a lot of fun playing tennis indoors with people from different age groups and alternative skills. There were many courts and ample space for all of us to join and enjoy. They have other events lined up too. You can find out what’s coming up below.”
Such was the fun – after all Power2Inspire’s No.1 Rule is “To have FUN!” – we have already booked to host the festival in 2022: Saturday 2nd July, the middle Saturday of Wimbledon. So put a date in the diary, and if inspired to play tennis more regularly, get in touch with Rob at CTA as they have accessible sessions throughout the year.
See you next year!
If you’re now inspired for Inclusive Sport then do join us at our next big event:
No event found!
An in-person real PowerHouseGames at the Perse!
It was a hot day, the first really hot day of the summer (and it turned out to be the last of this sunny spell) so we were lucky. Fortunately, some of the activities were inside the large sports hall and dance studio, all socially distanced, providing some protection against the sun! New Age Kurling and Sitting Netball worked well in the large hall, with the New Age Kurling “rinks” growing in length as the participants learnt the skills required.
Goalball was in its own room, ideal for keeping the noise down. Sitting Volleyball was moved to the shade of some trees as sitting still in the sun was uncomfortable – oh the English weather! Boccia improved once the players moved their chairs to back onto the tennis net, as playing the other way round the balls ended up in the net or under it!
A key to these activities was the voluntary support from the Year 12 charity committee, whose members led each station, explaining the rules of each to the Year 8s. A big thank you to the committee for their volunteering and their promotion of the charity.
The Inclusive Kilometre raised an amazing £1,811 and the students experienced walking while blindfolded and being guided – another great learning experience.
As well as having a fantastically fun day, an incredible £4,300 was raised for Power2Inspire to help us continue our mission to embed inclusive sport in the sporting, education and community landscapes.
A HUGE thank you to the Perse. I am already looking forward to next year!
Charities Co-ordinator Emma Kenzie said:
“The Power House Games went really well. The sun was shining and pupils had a really enjoyable day. It’s really nice that John was here and that we were able to raise so much money for Power2Inspire.”
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
If you are interested in hosting a virtual PowerHouseGames in your school / college / company / community group then we would love to hear from you. AS you have read we have even found a way to make our PowerHouseGames a success in lockdown so don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can plan you very own PowerHouseGames!!
Click the button here to find out more.
Bright Ideas for Tennis Inclusion Exhibition
Inclusion Exhibition
What a thrill! And a fabulous demonstration of inclusive sport in action!
Last Sunday I was invited to play in an exhibition of inclusive tennis. Organised by Danny Sapsford, co-founder and manager of the charity Bright Ideas for Tennis (and former GB Davis Cup player), and Mark Bullock, inclusive sports development advisor (and former member of the International Paralympic Committee Paralympic Games Committee!)
The aim was to showcase inclusive tennis. It did that in spades!
The cast list was intimidating!
- Joe Salisbury, Australian Men’s Doubles Champion 2020, and semi-finalist with partner Rajeev Ram at the recent ATP Finals at the O2, topped the bill!
- Anna Smith is another doubles specialist winning the WTA ranked Nurnberger Cup in 2017.
- Lucy Shuker, a wheelchair player with medals galore, including two bronze in the Paralympic doubles, twice a Masters Doubles World Champion and 5 World Team Cup medals.
- Rachel Morgan - Twice World and twice British totally blind tennis champion!
- Esah Hayat is the British Deaf singles champion and a Deaf World Doubles silver medallist. And he is studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge.
- Lily Mills is the four-time women’s national champion in the Learning Disability championships and GB representative at the Special Olympics in 2019 and still only 20!
- Naomi – Naomi is back on court and insists that playing tennis is one of the best ways to support her mental health. There are so many benefits of the game, both mental and physical, and she is a keen promoter of getting out there and giving tennis a go!
- And me - a novice who has risen to the dizzy heights of just about managing to play social doubles!
The venue was equally intimidating, the marvellous indoor tennis centre at St George’s College, an independent school. We had two of the courts to strut our stuff and be filmed.
First, Mark led us in a warm up. Sprinting on the spot, well running of any sort, is not my forte, so I was shattered from the get-go! Balancing a ball on the racket is particularly hard without a wrist, requiring such an uncomfortable shoulder turn I gave up until I tried it on the backhand – there is always a way! Watching Joe do this while balancing on a wobble board made the pain worthwhile.
Danny paired us up and challenged Naomi and I to rally through a Tennis Factory ‘micro net’, which is hard with really soft balls – it requires gentle touch. Then Mark had us practising imaginary forehands, backhands, volleys and smashes from different coloured markers. All my shots went in!
We were soon on to hitting across the proper net, with a variety of balls. One of the great things about tennis is the scope for adaptation. There are a variety of nets, balls and with the lines on the court, scope for altering the ‘rules’ to even up the challenge. We mostly used the red balls (75% slower and bigger than the normal yellow ball), except when playing with Rachel as she uses a sound ball (slightly larger with ball bearings inside), and the occasional yellow ball.
Hitting with Esah, whose control and direction were tested as he kept getting my shots back and within reach, was a joy. Mark moved me on to play with Joe, a complete thrill. I had properly warmed up by now and was hitting it as hard as I could and just about reaching the far end of the court but at least we were rallying!
During my interview – the morning was filmed to create a video showcasing how tennis can be adapted – I explained the development of my rackets. From a clamp holding the racket, through a rod allowing the racket to be gripped in two places, we have ended up, courtesy of Professor Ivor Day (retired professor of engineering at Cambridge University – choose your neighbours carefully!) with a racket screwed directly into the arm socket. This makes it feel as if the racket really is an extension of my arm!
After the interview I was partnered with Rachel and we rallied with Esah and then he was joined by Anna. This was truly awesome. Rachel is allowed 3 bounces of the sound ball, but rarely used it, scooping the ball from in front of her with an action that put tremendous spin on the ball, and allows for some error. I have to say it was extraordinary as I was quickly forgetful of the fact that she cannot see! No wonder she is a world champion. But there we were, four players, three disabled and a non-disabled champion, rallying for minutes at a time, demonstrating that sport can be truly inclusive. Wonderful.
That left me time to play with Lucy Shuker against Lily Mills and Mark Bullock. I had met Lucy four years ago when I did the tennis element of my Road2Rio challenge, so it was a thrill to catch up with her and this time play on the same court. The speed of the wheelchair when you are up close is something else. But my, I can see why Lily is a champion – she gives the ball a real thwack. She will be winning for a long time yet!
A huge thank you to Danny, Mark and Abbie (who I am sure did all the hard work) for putting this on. And to the other participants for showcasing what we passionately believe in at Power2Inspire – that “No one need be left on the bench!”
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.
Or join us at our next big Festival of Inclusive Sport:
New Deputy CEO Post announced
Deputy CEO Role
Following the huge success of the mch.london virtual boat race we are thrilled to announce that we are recruiting for a Deputy Chief Executive.
Key info:
| Reporting to: | CEO |
| Time required: | Part time, 16 hours a week – flexible |
| Salary: | £20,800 (£52,000 p.a. pro rata) |
| Contract: | 1 year – further years dependent on funding |
| Location: | Home based with travel |
| Deadline: | 5pm 22 July |
Summary of Role
Power2Inspire is at the cusp of a period of significant growth. We need a dynamic, self-motivating leader with the vision to take the charity into the future as the current (voluntary) CEO winds down his work. This role provides the ideal opportunity to gain the training and experience over a period of 2 to 4 years, to become the CEO.
Finances dictate the scope of the role: currently we have sufficient resources to engage for a fixed term of 1 year based on a flexible 16 hours a week. A major part of the role will be to work with the charity’s newly appointed fundraiser to secure funding for continuing this fixed term contract and hopefully making it a permanent full-time role.
The charity recently organised the hugely successful mch.london virtual boat race. This showcased inclusive sport, raised the profile of the charity and raised the money to enable the charity to fund this Deputy CEO post. The Deputy CEO will be expected to lead the growth in the charity’s brand afforded by the virtual boat race through social media and press, and assist in organising the second iteration of the race, and in securing enough from sponsorship and donations to help finance a continuation of this contract.
Key Responsibilities
- Organise the charity’s activities
- Develop (in conjunction with the current CEO and board) further the vision, mission and strategy for the growth of the charity (a five-year plan), with a view to implementing it as the current CEO steps down into retirement
- Manage a dynamic and young team of volunteers and any paid staff
- Assist with the implementation of the new fundraising strategy, being primarily responsible for bid writing
- Oversee the implementation of a new marketing and PR strategy, including managing interns or volunteers engaged for the purpose
- Take on part of the bookkeeping and banking requirements as agreed by the CEO and board
Operations
- Organise the booking and delivery of our PowerHouseGames, to include
- Liaising with schools, universities and community groups;
- Vetting, booking and liaising with coaches and volunteers (including the CEO) to deliver these activities;
- Ensuring monitoring and evaluation processes for before and after the activities are presented, completed and returned and arrange for the evaluation of the resulting data;
- Working with the CEO to arrange funding and payment for these PowerHouseGames;
- Assisting the CEO in recruiting corporates to support and participate in the university PowerHouseGames;
- Assist the CEO (and others) in the supervision, monitoring and reporting of the Community PowerHouseGames, both online and in libraries (when permitted);
- Assist in the organising of the charity’s festivals of inclusive sport, to include
- Possibly tennis, badminton, golf and inclusive run/walk/wheel sensory 1K;
- Liaising with the venue organisers, coaches and volunteers needed to run each event;
- Assist with the organisation of the second virtual boat race, including being responsible for the media, social media and publicity for the event;
- Support the CEO in delivering assemblies to schools (probably online during the pandemic) including marketing to schools and booking dates with them.
Financial and Fundraising
- To work with the CEO and the trustee responsible for overseeing the charity’s finances, to establish and implement the best division of the charity’s bookkeeping, payments and financial recording tasks and responsibilities;
- To work with the CEO and recently appointed (volunteer) Head of Fundraising to establish a modus operandi for fundraising, to include
- Bid writing
- Corporate sponsorship and partnership
- Fundraising challenges and events
- Scanning for potential funding streams
Strategy and Growth
- To assist the CEO in implementing the Trustees’ current strategy and growth plans;
- With the CEO and the board develop further the vision, mission and strategy to grow the charity as the current CEO gradually steps down – currently planned as a three to five-year process.
Staff and Volunteers
- To manage all the charity’s paid staff and volunteers (excluding the current CEO and trustees) including ensuring
- All policies are up to date
- Recruitment and induction processes are implemented
- The DBS checks required by the charity are obtained
- Complaints, enquiries, safeguarding reporting are dealt with appropriately.
Reporting
- To assist (with a view to taking over) the reporting, evaluation and monitoring required by the board, funders and/or donors.
Marketing
- To work with the CEO to establish a modus operandi for marketing, to include
- Liaising with schools, in the state, independent and SEN sectors, to promote the PowerHouseGames,
- Liaising with universities to promote the University PowerHouseGames model
- To supervise any staff, volunteers or outside agencies in their promotion of the charity through social or press or other media.
Other
- To undertake all reasonable tasks considered necessary by the CEO and the Board, commensurate with the role, the fixed term and part time nature of the contract.
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.
Essential Criteria
- Visionary, with a desire to grow into the CEO role
- Knowledge of at least one of:- the sports sector, disabled sports sector, schools and/or university sports sector, community sports (particularly inclusive sports) sector;
- Organisational skills, particularly of events with younger people
- Business and financial acumen and management experience
- Leadership skills – with experience of successfully leading a team
- Knowledge of fundraising, particularly bid writing
- A clear demonstration of commitment to and interest in the charity sector
- An enthusiasm for growing the charity and for developing new projects
- Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to write persuasively and for a variety of different audiences
- A sharp attention to detail, producing dependable and accurate work
- An ability to use initiative, think for yourself and argue your case
- Enthusiasm, energy and ability to fulfil the role
- Proficient in IT including using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Also, a fast learner of new IT packages and software with a working knowledge of a bookkeeping software program – the charity uses Xero
Desired Criteria
- Experience of dealing with the press, media and social media
- Experience of marketing
- Experience of working with disabled people, in a health environment or in sport
- Knowledge of fundraising databases, and monitoring and evaluation
- Knowledge of HR from a management perspective
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.
2020: End of Year Reflections
2020 - Some personal end of year reflections
I am thrilled to report that 2020 has been an excellent year for Power2Inspire! Despite everything that Covid-19 threw at us, we delivered 11 PowerHouseGames days, held a fabulous Festival of Inclusive Golf, pioneered both online seat-based exercise classes as well as a virtual PowerHouseGames with the Perse, and inaugurated the Virtual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge.
But I don’t want to get carried away. 2020 was the year that most of us will be happy to consign to history, the year that no one saw coming, the year that changed almost everything.
PowerHouseGames in Jan ’20 featuring:
Cambridge University Netball and Rugby League clubs, Impington College, Heritage School & Castle Special School
We were so optimistic back in January. We were planning our greatest number of PowerHouseGames, bigger festivals, and an expanded SuperSensory1K, all with a revitalised and dynamic board of trustees.
We were right to be excited. The Cambridge University Rugby League and Netball clubs came together for their first PowerHouseGames with Impington Village College, Heritage School and Castle Special School. It proved so much fun the Rugby League boys signed up early for a repeat: we were all so innocent!
This was followed by games at Linton Heights Juniors, Alexandra Infants School, and St Peter’s, Billericay. I shall never forget a young boy at Alexandra Infants showing off his out-of-the-ordinary hand (virtually no fingers) to be like me!
Luke Cavanaugh and Alex Parton of Caius College led our first College PowerHouseGames. I was thrilled to have Quilters Year 5s attend as the first junior school to attend a university games – they represented their school brilliantly. Our last PowerHouseGames was on 6th March, the second with the university cricket club, hosting The Perse, Netherhall and Castle Special Schools.
But then it all changed. We were due to hold a football PHG a week later, but Highfields School had a Covid case, and lockdown followed shortly afterwards. Further PHGs were cancelled or postponed.
So how did I, and Power2Inspire, get through this?
I think I experienced the five stages of Covid grief in just five days. I don’t in any way wish to belittle anyone’s real grief by making this comparison: my heart goes out to everyone affected by this dreadful illness. But it has been noted that our feelings, the sense of loss for a life that has gone, are similar to those when grieving [1]
Those five stages are: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance.
In the week before the cancelled games on the Friday, I ignored all the signs and remained unduly optimistic: I was in denial. On the Thursday, I received the call from Highfields about the Covid case and that they were stopping outside activities. The games were off. I moved straight into bargaining: could the other pupils still come? Anger followed swiftly: all we needed was one more day! This was so unfair.
I was morose over the weekend; depressed, with sprinklings of anger, bargaining and denial.
[1] For example, “Perspective | The 6 stages of coronavirus grief” by Daniel Scott.
But then my experiences as a disabled person started helping me. After years of facing shut doors (literal and metaphorical), of buttons refusing to undo or do up, of not being allowed or able to join in, I’ve learned that it is pointless, indeed damaging, to rail against the shut door. You can choose to sit down in front of it and wait, or you can accept the situation and find another way.
I love the Chinese proverb – “There is no wall too long to walk around.” The Chinese should know – the Great Wall is very long, but it still has two ends. And there is always another way round, over, under, through….!
What then could we do?
Our mission isn’t to deliver PowerHouseGames, but to “embed sport in the sporting, education and community landscapes.” PowerHouseGames are just one way of doing this. What could we do instead?
I had started dreaming of an Inclusive Boat Race in 2016. Having been a cox at Cambridge University, I was keen to add rowing to our stable of Festivals of Inclusive Sports. Using ergometers (rowing machines) makes it accessible for more people. However, it had not yet proved possible to make an Oxford v Cambridge race between mixed ability crews on ergs a reality.
Lockdown suddenly offered an opportunity. The elite rowers were unable to row for their universities but wanted to stay fit, and many of them had ergs at home. We made it virtual, with the rowers filming themselves and the marvellous Small Films editing the footage into an exhilarating race. Huge thanks to Garry Herbert and Martin Cross for adding the all-important commentary; to GingerMay who helped us reach around the globe; and to Mark Howarth and his team at mch.london, who sponsored and project managed the event.
Click below to check out more about the first ever Virtual Boat Race!
Another real highlight was recruiting Alex Laybourne as Deputy CEO, made possible by funds raised through the Virtual Boat Race. Welcome Alex – I now want more funds so we can increase your hours! Anyone out there who wants to sponsor the 2021 Inclusive Boat Race (with, potentially, a global audience) please get in touch.
We turned another challenge into an opportunity with our seat-based exercise classes. Oak Activities have been delivering seat-based exercise classes in libraries in Cambridgeshire for us for a couple of years. They’d grown from very small numbers to a dedicated weekly attendance of 50-60 across March, Ramsey and St Ives.
Tom Milner of Oak and I responded quickly to the libraries closing – the joys of being a small, agile charity – and thanks to Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (and later from Living Sport and Sport England) funding was secured to pilot an online version. Tom recruited Lou, who ran three online classes daily, designed especially for those with less mobility. The response has been phenomenal – over 300,000 views and with a regular following over 1,500. Sadly, Lou had a mini stroke and had to take a recuperative rest, but still showed her spirit by demonstrating her rehabilitation exercises to explain why she wasn’t on screen. We all wish her a continued recovery and look forward to having her back. Aimee has taken over and we’re still delivering one class a day.
If you are interested in helping to fund the continuation of these online classes, please do contact us. They provide a vital lifeline to those who are isolated and in need of activity.
Oxford and Cambridge rugby clubs came together with Leonard Cheshire care homes in Banbury and Brampton for an online seat-based exercise session led by the excellent Aimee. It kept their links going, fostered our relationship with the clubs and hopefully encouraged Oxford to consider a PowerHouseGames in the future.
We have created other virtual versions of our activities: school assemblies via zoom for Kings Ely Juniors, The Perse and Kent College; and training videos for the Perse to take part in a mini self-run PowerHouseGames. If you know a school who would like a zoom assembly or a self-run PowerHouseGames with support, please put them in touch with us.
Our activities finished the year with a return to some annual favourites!
Quilters’ headteacher, Mike Wade, was so keen to host their third annual Paralympic Week, he restructured the school week to keep everyone safe. The children were so enthusiastic, so pleased to be able to play and have fun, that the week was our best yet as Zach showed and the teachers explain in the short video below. It demonstrated why Mike is such a good head teacher: he cares deeply about the children and is worried about the effects of the pandemic on their mental health and resilience, and is supporting them through it. No wonder he’s been shortlisted for the national Primary School Head Teacher of the Year award.
It was fitting and optimistic that we should finish the year with the Festival of Inclusive Golf. Read too Daniel’s story below. The FIG showed we can still deliver during a pandemic – especially outdoors and with some imagination.
The last event of the year was the Living Sports virtual awards. I am delighted to say we were runners-up in two categories: with Oak Activities in the Matthew Warn Power of Sport award for the online exercise classes; and I was runner-up in the Services to Sport award. Thank you, Living Sport for all your support this year.
Despite Covid-19, the lockdowns, the closed schools, and the reduced opportunities, we have had a year to be proud of. We’re also excited for the restart of ‘normal’ life next year. With a fresh, reinvigorated board (thank you for all the hours you put in for free) and an enthusiastic Deputy CEO, Power2Inspire is ready to step up to the next level.
We want to expand our University PowerHouseGames programme, develop our Festivals of Inclusive Sport into an exciting series, secure the future of the online classes, build a partnership with the Boat Race Company, and above all, return to schools to show that inclusive sport is fun and ensure that “No one is left on the Bench!”
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
If you would like to help us continue inspiring thousands of people with inclusive sport then we would love to hear from you. We are always looking out for people willing to fundraise for Power2Inspire – we have loads of spaces at events you can run in to raise funds for us, or through your own inspiring means. You could volunteer at one of our events, or you could give to the ongoing work of Power2Inspire. Just £5 a month will pay for a school class to have a fun-filled morning of inclusive sport!
Click the button here to find out more.
John Willis
Founder & Chief Ambassador, Power2Inspire