ActivLives held 12 weeks of Lawn Bowls throughout the summer at Kesgrave Community Centre.
We had a total of 286 attendances in this 12 week period, with an average attendance of 24 joining in each week.
Special thanks to Kevin the caretaker- who will be retiring later this year. Thank you for all your efforts looking after the lawn and for all the kindness and support you have shown our members. Happy retirement!
ActivLives is kickstarting this month with the re-opening of its ActivSport sessions after a short hiatus from the summer break. Several sports activities that the charity offers are now open in the first week of September. Those are interested to join can contact ActivLives at 01473 345350.
The charity organisation offers variety of accessible sports including boccia, new age kurling & bowls. It also delivers sport sessions specifically targeted at participants with a learning (intellectual) disability in partnership with Special Olympics Suffolk. These inclusive sessions currently focus on the sports of badminton and boccia. TO learn more about these sports activities, please visit https://activlives.org.uk/activsports/.
The ActivSport programme of ActivLives also offers other activities that help you keep fit and active such as the health walks at the Christchurch Park every other Monday from 11.00am to 12.00pm. It also has a yoga session every Wednesday from 1.15pm to 2.15pm at the Landseer Road Methodist Church. New participants are always welcome to the ActivLives sports sessions.
ActivLives is organising its next inclusive event – the ActivLives ‘Big Boccia Bash’ on Wednesday 25th September, 10.30-2.30 at Gainsborough Sports Centre, Ipswich, IP3 0SP.
The event will be a celebration of National Boccia Day, being held that week, and will consist of a variety of boccia skills and fun team challenges followed by a mini-tournament – We would love you to join us.
There is no need to pre-enter for this one, although it is really helpful if we know who is likely to be coming along, in advance. The ‘Big Boccia Bash’ is open to anyone (16 years+), who would like to have a go at the great sport of boccia.
If you would like to be involved, as a player(s), or as a volunteer, please do let us know by the 18th September, it really helps us with planning for the day.
Boccia England is one of the supporters of this upcoming event.
“We are delighted that ActivLives are organising a ‘Big Boccia Bash’ in Ipswich. We firmly believe that boccia is the most inclusive sport in the world and this event is a great way to show that off. We would urge anyone interested to give it a try – we know you will love it,” Will Evans, Head of Sport at Boccia England said.
ActivLives thanks Boccia England for their kind support with this event, and to Special Olympics Suffolk and Suffolk Community Foundation, for their continuing partnership work with us.
If you would like to take part in the ‘Big Boccia Bash’, and/or you would like to bring a group, we would love to hear from you! -END-
The second ActivLives Inclusive Boccia Tournament was held in Stowmarket on the 28th of July. The event attracted 42 competitors, who played a total of 70 ends of boccia, over 26 matches, scoring 123 points. There were over 75 people who attended the event, during the course of the day.
Julie Stokes CEO said, “It was fantastic to see so many people of all abilities taking part in the Boccia Tournament, it’s a great sport for younger and older people to participate in, it’s fun, helps people engage with others and can be very competitive. A big thank you to Mike McCarthy for promoting Boccia in Suffolk and enabling people with disabilities to participate in a Paralympic sport.”
The sport of Boccia, which is played whilst sitting down, is particularly suitable for players with a disability, and will be part of the Paralympic programme being held next month in Paris.
The ActivLives tournament in Stowmarket, consisted of three divisions, where players competed in teams of three, in a round-robin format. The day concluded with a ‘spider decider’ mass team event, with all of the players involved.
“The atmosphere was brilliant throughout the event, with some very tight matches being played throughout the day”, said Mike McCarthy, from ActivLives.
“Many thanks to all of the athletes, to our brilliant team of volunteers and also to our supporting partners Special Olympics Suffolk, Special Olympics GB, the Suffolk Community Foundation, and our hosts for the day at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre”.
If you would like to find out more about how to get involved with boccia in the Stowmarket, Ipswich or Felixstowe areas, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or email mike@activlives.org.uk. END
Members of the ActivLives Inclusive Badminton groups, competed successfully at a Para-Disability Badminton tournament held recently in Gillingham, Kent. The event was hosted by Kent Badminton, in partnership with Badminton England and was attended by the President of Badminton England, Derek Batchelor and the CEO, Sue Storey.
In addition to our local athletes (who were representing Special Olympics Suffolk), the event attracted competitors from Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, Lancashire and Devon.
Seven athletes from the ActivLives/Special Olympics Suffolk groups, competed with great distinction, in divisions for athletes with an intellectual (learning) disability, across the singles and doubles events.
“We have seen some brilliant performances from our players today, which have resulted in medals of all colours being won”, said Mike McCarthy, Badminton Coach from ActivLives and Special Olympics Suffolk. “As well as being competitive though, the positive, exuberant and fun attitude of our athletes is a privilege to witness, they are a credit to Suffolk!”.
Many thanks to the volunteers and family members who supported our athletes on the day.
If you would like to find out more about getting involved with badminton for players with a learning disability, particularly in the Ipswich/South Suffolk area, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or email mike@activlives.org.uk
ActivLives recently hosted a New Age Kurling Competition at Gainsborough Sports Centre.
For our competition we invited various Kurling groups from Ipswich and Felixstowe to come together for a day of fun and activity. We had a total of 38 participants taking part in the competition on the day. There were bronze, silver and gold medals up for grabs.
We first played group games, followed by a semi-final and then a final game to decide our gold medallists.
A special thanks to our volunteers who helped with the organisation of the day’s events and keep score of the games. Your help was greatly appreciated by all.
Curious about Kurling?
New Age Kurling is an adapted version of the Olympic sport Curling, and is suitable for nearly all abilities. It’s a fun way to stay active and meet new people. ActivLives offer regular Kurling sessions at Felixstowe Leisure Centre and Walton Community Hall- if you’re interested in these sessions and want to get involved- please see our timetable for more details.
