FYI

INTER SPINAL UNIT GAMES RETURN

Following a two year absence due to the pandemic, WheelPower’s Inter Spinal Unit Games returned for 2022 and saw 80 recently injured participants from 11 different spinal units come together at Stoke Mandeville to compete in wheelchair sports. WheelPower is the national charity for wheelchair sport, and these games form an essential part of many spinal patients’ rehabilitation following injury, and provide a fantastic opportunity to discover the many benefits of sport and activity. Teams came from across the UK to take part in a week full of activity supported by qualified coaches from a range of national governing bodies. The first few days offered taster sessions in wheelchair basketball, table tennis, wheelchair rugby, tennis, canoeing, wheelchair racing, shooting, hand cycling and wheelchair fencing, and many more. This was followed by teams from each unit competing to gain points, and this year the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury emerged victorious. These games are not just about sport of course, as they continue to offer an

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

News and stories from around the world

opportunity for people to experience feeings of camaraderie and they offer a great social aspect. Helen, who was representing the Southport Spinal Unit comments: “I have felt on top of the world this week at the Inter Spinal Unit Games. I haven’t been around many wheelchair users back in Manchester and coming to Stoke Mandeville feels like I am home. I’ve done so much that I didn’t think I’d be good at and I feel really proud of myself and my abilities.” Martin McElhatton, WheelPower chief executive said: “It has been wonderful to see so many recently paralysed people discovering the physical and wellbeing benefits of sport at the 2022 Inter Spinal Unit Games. After a challenging couple of years, it has been fantastic to have one of the flagship events return to the calendar and we hope that everyone who joined us this week now has a better understanding of the sporting opportunities available to them following a life changing injury. “We couldn’t host this event without the support of our sponsors, volunteers and amazing coaches who have helped us to motivate and encourage everyone who has taken part in this positive and transformative week at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. As a charity we hope that this event has inspired them all to lead a more active life through movement, physical activity and sport in the future.”

WheelPower.org.uk

INCLUSIVE YOUTH VOLUNTEERING CONFERENCE

Aconference will be held by British Blind Sport, UK Deaf Sport and Sport Birmingham on 25 October at the Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre in Birmingham to celebrate the success of the See My Voice project. The conference will share insights gathered over the last year from the See My Voice project and will highlight inequalities and barriers that exist for young disabled people who want to volunteer in the sport and physical activity sector. The event will be supported by the project’s Young Leaders, who will draw on their own personal experiences to explore the challenges and explore how to improve volunteer experiences. Discussions will focus on solutions and how to affect positive change to help organisations understand how they can diversify their workforce and shape activities to become more inclusive. Workshops will also be hosted by British Blind Sport, UK Deaf Sport and Sport Birmingham. Alaina MacGregor, CEO of British Blind Sport said: “We are delighted to be hosting the Inclusive Youth Volunteering Conference with our partners UK Deaf Sport and Sport Birmingham as part of the ‘scaling up’ of the See My Voice project. We are excited to share our Young Leaders’ experiences and provide insight into inclusive volunteering with the wider sector to promote change and inclusivity. We want to make it easier for young people with disabilities to volunteer and are confident that this conference will give organisations the tools they need to diversify their workforce.” The conference is free, and places will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit: BritishBlindSport.Wufoo. com/Forms/me2umpo0a8fvl7 for more information.

ELLIE SIMMONDS MAKES STRICTLY HISTORY

The ever-popular TV show Strictly Come Dancing is back on our screens once again, and this time they have fivetime Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Ellie Simmonds taking part. Previous years on the show have welcomed disabled guests, and last year saw d/Deaf actor Rose Ayling-Ellis go on to win the coveted glitter ball. However, they have never had a contestant living with dwarfism, which makes this a historic moment in representation on our screens. Writer Cathy Reay lives with dwarfism, and she wrote about the incredible reaction of her daughter in an opinion piece for the Guardian: “…one of the first things she [Ellie] said was “I have dwarfism …” – the rest of her sentence was obfuscated by my daughter excitedly yelling “I HAVE DWARFISM TOO!” Suddenly my kids were transfixed, cheering every time she appeared, and they haven’t stopped talking about it since. It lit a fire in their bellies I have rarely seen before.” This reaction shows just how powerful representation in the media can be, let’s hope it continues.

You can follow Ellie Simmonds on Instagram @EllieSimmonds for updates on her Strictly journey.

Ellie, who has been partnered with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin, took to the dancefloor like a pro for their first dance, scoring a very respectable 26 points for the first week, securing their place in week two.

WETHE15 CAMPAIGN WINS AWARD

WeThe15 is a campaign representing the 1.2 billion disabled people across the globe. That’s 15% of the global population, hence the name WeThe15. This campaign aims to become the biggest ever human rights movement and it has just been recognised at the Sport Leaders Awards for the best inclusion campaign. The campaign was launched before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with the vision of increasing disability visibility, accessibility, inclusion, and equality, and ending discrimination. Craig Spence, chief brand and communications officer at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), who collected the award on behalf of the WeThe15 campaign, said: “Thank you to the judges of the Leaders Awards for recognising the impact that the WeThe15 campaign is having on raising awareness that 15 percent of the world has a disability and the voice it can give the 1.2 billion persons with disabilities. “Sport is an important element of WeThe15, with the IPC, Special Olympics, Invictus Games Foundation and the Deaflympics working together for the first time. We are committed to using our international sport events over the next decade as a campaigning platform for disability visibility, accessibility, inclusion, and equality of rights. Working together we can create a sports industry that has persons with disability at the table and on our television screens.”

Follow @WeThe15 on Twitter.

HEWETT CLAIMS THIRD US OPEN TITLE

Alfie Hewett became a three-time US Open men’s wheelchair singles champion in New York after beating world No.1 Shingo Kunieda of Japan 7-6(2), 6-1. Hewett, who also won the US Open title in 2018 and 2019, needed six set points before taking the opening set with an ace, having put away a total of 26 winners.

The British No.1 hit eight winners alone in the first three games of the second set earning a 3-0 lead with a break to love. A ninth double fault from Kunieda gave Hewett two match points, but the first was enough for Hewett to earn his first win over Kunieda in three major finals this season and claim the sixth Grand Slam singles title of his career. Hewett, who is part of the LTA’s Wheelchair Elite Programme, said: “It’s obviously an incredible feeling. Even though it’s the third one it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t mean as much as the last two. Actually, it means more this time around to bounce back after everything that’s been going on (for family) the last eight or nine weeks and also after losing to him in the final at Wimbledon.

“To then fight and be resilient like I

Alfie Hewett | Photo by Carine06 @Flikr did, especially in that first set today, and then produce the level of tennis I did in that second, it’s testament to my team, my mentality and everything I’ve worked for, so I couldn’t be happier with the title.”

There was success in the junior arena for the Brits too, as Ben Bartram claimed the US Open wheelchair boys singles title and then partnered Dahnon Ward to secure the boys doubles title at the first junior wheelchair tournament to take place at one of the sport’s four majors. Bartram commented: “It’s amazing to be the first junior doubles champions. We first played doubles together when we were 12 or 13, so we’ve definitely come a long way. We’re best friends on and off court and get on really well and hopefully that shows when we play doubles.

“In singles we both want to win, but it’s a great thing to be on court in the final knowing a British player will be the winner no matter what the result after all the work people have put in with us at the LTA and everywhere else.” Dahnon Ward added: “It was a bit of a ropey first set, but sometimes you have those matches when you just have to pull through. It’s one for the history books and very special for both of us.

“In the great scheme of things there’s no pressure on either of us to win in the (singles) final. People develop at different rates, and it can be hard at times, but this is why we play – for these moments.”

LATEST TWEETS

Princess, The Tower @APainPrincess

“#ChronicIllness doesn’t always come with a walker, a wheelchair, a cane, cast, brace, or any other assistive device. Of course, the absence of these items can be both a blessing and a curse… But that doesn’t mean they aren’t suffering.” https://buff. ly/3S9P7tR #ChronicPain

∞ Clear Autism ∞ @ClearAutism

Before asking #disabled people to “learn to cope with” or “manage” a difficult situation, ask yourself: have I asked about and put in place accommodations and adjustments to facilitate this for them, or am I simply expecting them to do all the work?

Sugar & Sloth @sugarandsloth

Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful for my body when it lets me down with #chronicillness. But when I remember to be grateful for all the things it DOES let me do, I realise there’s a lot it does right, and I am thankful. Let’s try and be kinder to our bodies this week. #spoonie

Amplified @sources33

Many non #disabled people think that #Accessibility refers only to doors that open with the push of a button. #Accessibility is about creating equitable economic,social foundations& structures within society that support equal access for ALL incl #PWD @1MikeMorris @BonitaZarrillo