Sense Leeds to get vital cash boost from Sport England to help disabled people access exercise

Sense Leeds, located in the Rothwell Leisure Centre, will be sharing the sum of £2.2 million awarded by Sport England with the charity’s other venues across the UK.

The charity’s sports and physical activity co-ordinator for Leeds, Paul Downes, said: “We want the money to go as far as it can and have as much impact as possible. We want to upskill the workers, get them more involved with disability and teach them how to adapt to their people. We are trying to hit both angles by fusing the two sectors of sports and health and social care together.”

The funding is designed to increase provision in sports and physical activity to give thousands of people in England living with complex disabilities an opportunity to participate. It also promises to directly support an additional 5,000 people with disabilities to become more active in their local communities.

Sense Leeds find dance to be popular among people with more complex disabilities, helping them access exercise. The dance sessions are run by Emma Clayton of Ascendance, a local dance company targeted at those with Parkinson’s disease. She said: “I think the proof is in the pudding when these guys come skipping in for their session every Monday morning.”

The team Emma teaches at Sense have been preparing a Christmas showcase of the Nutcracker alongside the participants’ favourite – a sugar plum fairy dance. The dances incorporate different hip hop elements, giving a Broadway feel to the whole production, says Caroline Leung of Ascendance.

Emma added: “We have to ensure everything is really inclusive – some of our participants are not that physical so we need lots of variation. It is also led by our participants. We have members who come up with their own moves and we include them.”

Abigail Webster attends the dance sessions with her carers, who manage her wheelchair and also get involved with the dances. The charity hopes for more people in the community who are independently cared for, like Abigail, to get involved.

Emma described the participants as her “extended family” and said while they come to these sessions to move about, they leave with vital communication skills and independence.

In the works at Sense Leeds is a sensory walk, which requires lots of planning and mapping to be safe. The charity also hope to reintroduce their sensory football sessions in the new year, which were supported by the Leeds United Foundation. In the meantime, the participants are excited to debut their dances on December 12.

Tim Hollingsworth, chief executive of Sport England, said: “The pandemic disproportionately affected disabled people and now the cost of living brings new and difficult challenges. Our strategy Uniting the Movement aims to help everyone play sport and get active – no matter who they are, where they live, or what their background is. But disabled people are still far less likely to be active than other groups, and this is an inequality that we are working hard to address.”