Reaching Higher Project Service Spotlight
This month’s spotlight shines a light on the fantastic work that Paul does as a part of his role as Sports Development Officer for Horsham District Council and in the Reaching Higher Project. This month’s edition is even longer than previous ones, so has taken some time to bring together in a manageable way. It does help to show the journey of how Reaching Higher Project came about and how it exists today! Read on to find out more, if you or someone you know would like to feature in the service spotlight then please contact: LocalOffer@westsussex.gov.uk
Keir: What does your service do?
Paul: Well… I think if I give a bit of background first that will help to show the journey to how the Reaching Higher Project has become what it is today.
I have always had a passion for what I do which is enabling and giving local people opportunities to take part in sport and started working at Horsham District Council in 1994, almost 30 years ago. I started on a week’s work experience, that became a 3-month probation period, then a 2-year contract and I am still here 28 years later!
When I first started, Horsham already had an adult disability sports club called Ready and Able, which still runs today at Christ’s Hospital on Monday’s. The first thing I did when I started was to set up a disability football club called ‘Forest Flyers’ that runs on a Saturday and is now looked after by Albion in the Community. After this, I continued to develop projects and activities that enable everyone in the community to take part in sport.
In 2007 there was a parent led group called You Can Do It! in Horsham. They came about because they were struggling to find out of school activities for their children with additional needs, which had staff trained to make sure their children were fully included. With the help of some funding from Children in Need they were able to start two clubs, gymnastics and trampolining. This evolved in 2009 with further funding, from the Aiming High for Disabled Children pot of money, as well as my support as Sports Development Officer in applying for the funding, which was used to run additional activities including athletics, cricket, swimming, DJ’ing, Digital Video Production, and Dance. Fortunately, we have been successful getting continued funding from the now called, Short Breaks program and pre-covid we were running 13 weekly sports and arts activities under what we, at Horsham District Council, now call the Reaching Higher Project.
Keir: What activities are you currently running?
Paul: We have athletics which runs on a Wednesday at the Bridge Leisure Centre, two rebound therapy sessions at Queen Elizabeth II School on Thursdays, a karaoke session on a Friday at the QM Studios followed by a DJ session and then a Digital Video Production session on a Saturday afternoon. One thing that has been a real positive is the continuity of staff we have managed to keep over all these years. For instance, Dave our athletics coach, Adam who runs the karaoke and DJ sessions and Jason who runs the Digital Video Production session have all been with us since the activities started 13 years ago, and this helped develop a great level of trust with our young people as well as their parent/carers who feel confident to leave their child or young person with us whilst they go and do other things. Some of our other activity leaders also work in special schools in the area, meaning some of our young people are already familiar with the staff.
Keir: I think having the staff for so long shows that they obviously really enjoy what they do! How else do you cater your service to meet the needs of people with additional needs?
Paul: When we first started it was vital that we listened to the people the activities are for, find out what they wanted to do, how did they want to go about doing it and when were the best days and times for them to run? We keep this in mind all the time, so we respond to the needs and desires of our participants.
We also ensure that our activity leaders are all well trained, with things such as Makaton, disability awareness training and qualifications within their specialist field/sport. We also link in Year 9 Sports Leaders from surrounding schools to help support the sessions and this gives them experience they can take forward into their careers. With the students being similar ages to the people that attend our activities, it gives more opportunities for social interactions between peers, that might not otherwise get the opportunity and helps to engage with people a bit more.
As a result of the pandemic some of our sessions are now even more accessible as we have adapted to doing them online. This was really appreciated by the families we work with as it helped people to stay in touch and our children and young people had something to look forward to every week during a time when there wasn’t always a lot for them to be able to enjoy.
We also think about what more we can do with the clubs themselves. So, for instance in 2012 our dance group went to the London Stadium and performed at the Paralympics. We have also provided training opportunities and one person who helps with our Horsham Wheels 4 ALL inclusive cycling sessions, Callum, is a beneficiary of this. Callum started when he was 8 and first came to enjoy taking part in the activities and to make friends and has now come full circle and is a paid support worker thanks to all his hard work and completion of the mentoring and training. He is also a great role model, and it shows our young people and their families what they can achieve when they try, even more so as Callum was told he may never ride a bicycle by his doctor when he was younger, so to be able to do so and help other people cycle is really amazing!
Keir: What’s your favourite part about working in the Reaching Higher Project?
Paul: For me, I get a real satisfaction knowing that the weekly activities we provide give families and young people a chance to take part in a way that is like their peers. The smiles on their faces and some of the stories that we hear are amazing and make the job so rewarding. In 2017 when Horsham Wheels 4 ALL was getting started, we had a young boy called Alazar join, who used a wheelchair at the time. He could only go about 30 metres on one of our trikes to begin with. After about 6 weeks he was able to do a full lap of the track and it wasn’t long before I realised, he was no longer turning up to the session in his wheelchair and was using a frame! The regular cycling had built up his leg muscles and even his own doctors were amazed at his progress. Since then, he has completed a Bikeability course, got his own tricycle, participated in sponsored bike rides and his mum has now learnt to ride a bike so they can go on family bike rides.
What makes it even more special is that just before the pandemic, we nominated Alazar for Bikability Trainee of the Year, which is run across the country and has about 9000 nominees, and he won! For him and his family it was amazing for them to be recognised for all the hard work and effort they had put in over the year and I think when people ask why I do what I do, this is it. These kinds of stories and the change that was made for the individual and the family wouldn’t have occurred if we did not run the Reaching Higher Project and Horsham Wheels 4 ALL sessions.
Keir: That does sound special and there is a video on the Reaching Higher Project’s service card about Alazar’s journey so if people wanted to know more, they can look there. How else can people find out more about what you do?
Paul: All the information for the Reaching Higher Project is available on the Horsham District Council website and includes things like times, dates, locations and the link to booking on to an activity. We do provide a free taster session for all our activities for people to see if it is right for them. Anyone who does want to do this would need to contact me in advance so we can have an initial discussion about their needs which can then be passed on to the activity leaders. To do this people can email me at paul.taylor@horsham.gov.uk or phone me on 07764 146339. We also offer a discount if you have a Leisure Access Card, or a West Sussex Compass Card which we will continue to accept even with the contract between the County Council and Compass Card ending in March.
Keir: Thanks for speaking to me today, Paul, it has been great to find out about the great work you and your team have been doing over the years in Horsham.
|
