Stories
Active Opportunities for Visually Impaired Children: Team Sports, Outdoor Adventures & More with Useful Vision
According to British Blind Sport, visually impaired people face many barriers to accessing sport and are twice as likely to be inactive than people without sight loss. We want to change that!
Staying active is vital to health and wellbeing. Our Activities Coordinator, Ciara Fisher, holds a degree in Sports & Exercise Science, as well as qualifications in multisports, fitness instruction, goalball, rebound therapy, boccia, handball and boxercise. Ciara is passionate about the positive benefits of living an active lifestyle. She tells us “it’s so important for children to access sport – leading an active lifestyle promotes muscle and bone development, improves posture and balance, prevents childhood obesity, and reduces the risk of developing conditions including Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease.”
“In addition to the physical benefits, exercise and physical activity are key contributors to improving in mental health and wellbeing. Physical activity allows children to have a better outlook on life by building confidence, managing anxiety and depression, increasing self-esteem, confidence, and cognitive skills. Participating in sports also allows children to make new friends, learn new skills and try new things!”
At Useful Vision, we strive to increase opportunities for visually impaired children to participate in physical activity. We offer oodles of active events, team sports, and thrilling outward bound adventures. This year our families took part in tons of sporty sessions including swimming, trampolining, archery and canoeing at the Calvert Trust, football in partnership with Durham FA and the Foundation of Light, a multisports morning, paddleboarding with CBK Adventures and Goalball with Paralympian Matt Loftus!
We would love to thank our generous donors for helping us to reach our goal of making sports accessible to visually impaired children of all ages and abilities. Our multisports morning was kindly funded by Magic Little Grants, a charitable initiative funded by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. The Appletree Fund provides opportunities for disabled children to engage in activities that typically have barriers to access. Their donation allowed us to access exhilarating sports activities tailored to visually impaired children at the Calvert Trust. Finally, Useful Vision were delighted to support young archer, Kathryn, to realise her dream of learning new skill. Through generous funding from the Nunsmoor Access Fund, Kathryn was able to take part in over 25 hours of archery lessons and has gone on to join a local archery club.
Get Involved
There are many are so many opportunities available for visually impaired children to join in sports and learn new skills. Here’s a selection of upcoming sports events across the region:
Newcastle United Foundation: Visually Impaired Football
- Newcastle College
- Wednesdays, 5:30pm – 6:30pm.
- https://www.nufoundation.org.uk/news/what-s-on-newcastle-united-foundation
Newcastle United Foundation provides professional disability football coaching for adults and children with a range of disabilities through an inclusive approach to sport. For more information, please contact mark.daglish@nufc.co.uk or steven.oneill@nufc.co.uk.
British Blind Sport: Durham FA Juniors Visually Impaired Football
- Sundays, 10am – 11am
- Gateshead Stadium
- 8 – 16 years
- £2 per session
- To register: https://forms.office.com/r/f1BuGuYd3J
Goalball UK: Goalball – Have a Go Day
- Saturday 12th November
- 11:30am – 1:30pm
- All ages and abilities welcome!
- Sports Central, Northumbria University
For more information, please contact Kathryn Fielding:
Tel. 07795 263642 or email Kathryn.Fielding@goalballuk.com
Useful Vision: Rock Climbing
Rock climbing was introduced as a brand-new event to the Toyko Olympics 2020. If your child would like to try out this exciting sport – there’s still a few places left for our rock climbing session on Tuesday 23rd October! This event at Newcastle Climbing Wall follows brilliant feedback from our session in April. The instructors, Chris and Sam, were fantastic, with parents commenting that they were great at supporting and communicating with the children. Click here to book now!
We are busy planning a jam-packed schedule for 2023 and with even more exciting, active events. Stay connected with us on Instagram and Facebook for all the latest news.