CSAC welcomes Essex Disabled Sports Foundation

Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre has once again hosted Essex Disabled Sports Foundation’s annual Sports Experience Day, welcoming children from special schools across Essex – and some VIP guests who were on hand to give the kids coaching and tips!

Essex Disabled Sports Foundation

Since it was founded in 1990, Essex Disabled Sports Foundation has raised over £3 million to provide sporting facilities and opportunities for children with disabilities throughout East Anglia and the Home Counties. The charity’s Sports Experience Days are designed to encourage children with additional learning and physical needs to take up sports by highlighting the accessible options available in their area.

Sports Experience Days take place in three locations each year, welcoming children from across Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. The event at Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre (CSAC) is the largest, with around 650 children attending this year.

Sports Experience Day

On Monday 8 June, the sports centre in Melbourne welcomed children from schools across Essex, who tried their hand at everything from judo to table tennis. Specialist coaches gave their time to provide guidance and coaching, with support from volunteers from local colleges and sports groups.

Volunteers arrived early to set up over 15 activity stations, inside and outside the centre, along with facepainting tables, snack stops and a field full of inflatables in Melbourne Park. Lunch was provided for everyone, and the children took home a medal and an Essex Disabled Sports Foundation t-shirt to remember the day.

In the centre, activities included basketball, boccia, dancing, judo, table tennis, boxing, rugby, and volleyball. Outside, the athletics track worked as a rounders field, sprint track, long jump and an agility course!

Children had the chance to try out multiple sports and activities at the sports centre.

The day is geared towards new experiences and giving the children a taster of multiple activities, so each school spent 30 minutes at their chosen sport station, before moving on to the next. The 30 minutes were split between skills coaching and play time, with equal weight given to learning and having fun! There was also the added excitement of meeting some VIP guests…

Sporting legends joined in the fun

Along with specialist coaches, children also benefited from the input of some VIP guests, who joined in with the sessions and chatted with participants and volunteers. Among them were Paralympians Steve Brown and Ellie Challis, who are both incredible examples of what can be achieved in adaptive sports!

The Mayor and Mayoress of Chelmsford attended the event along with former High Sheriff of Essex, Julie Fosh DL, to welcome the charity, participants and their carers and guardians, and the day’s VIP guests.

West Ham legend and pundit, Sir Trevor Brooking was joined by his fellow Hammer Tony Cottee and, another beloved England footballer, Peter Shilton CBE, who is an ambassador for the charity. They were joined by all-time great England cricketer, Graham Gooch, who managed to play a couple of games of table tennis between chats with children and volunteers throughout the day.

Paralympian and wildlife presenter, Steve Brown, who was captain of the GB rugby team at the London 2012 Paralympics, spoke to children and handed out pro-tips, too! Meanwhile, Paralympic swimmer Ellie Challis, who won her first Paralympic medal at just 17 and more recently took home a gold medal from the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, got stuck in on the athletics track competing with the children even when the heavens opened.

The day was organised by the charity’s Chairman, Mike Jackson MBE, and was a great success, despite a few interruptions from the rain.

“

"So many people help to deliver Sports Experience Days, but I would like particularly to mention the staff and students from Felsted School who delivered some of the coaching, students from Chelmsford College who supported many of the activities, a team from Barclays who handed out t-shirts and medals to the children as well as supervising refreshments and finally the management team at CSAC who did an amazing job in challenging and changing weather conditions."

Mike Jackson MBE, Chairman, Essex Disabled Sports Foundation

Thank you to Mike and all at Essex Disabled Sports Foundation for making this event happen each year and thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate accessible sports!

You can find more information about Essex Disabled Sports Foundation here.

Check out the accessible sports available at CSAC and other Chelmsford City Council Leisure Centres here.