National Sport England Director visits Northumberland
Sport England’s Director for Children & Young People, Mike Diaper and Senior Manager, Liz Aitken recently paid a special visit to Northumberland to hear all about the success of the Sport Unlimited programme in the county.
As part of their visit, Northumberland Sport organised a trip to the newly developed horse riding facility at The Pegasus Centre, near Morpeth. This gave them the opportunity to see children with learning disabilities from Collingwood School being provided with expert tuition on horse riding as part of the Sport Unlimited organised activities.
Sport Unlimited Programme
Sport Unlimited is an innovative national Sport England funded programme aimed at boosting sports participation by 10-19 year olds by giving them the freedom to choose from a wide variety of local sports. It’s targeted at youngsters who may have some interest in sport, but aren’t particularly engaged with community or club sport.
This national programme which is managed by Northumberland Sport in Northumberland aims to establish what sports young people actually want to do. By identifying the local need, a wide range of 10-week, high-quality taster sessions have been organised across the county, which have been designed to inspire youngsters to sign up for longer-term participation in local clubs in the community.
Mike Diaper said: “It was fantastic to hear about how Sport Unlimited is getting young people in Northumberland engaged in sport. I was very impressed by what I saw at the Pegasus Centre. It was great to witness first hand the difference the centre and Sport Unlimited is making on the lives of young people.”
Doug Lowery, Executive Director for Northumberland Sport said: “It was great to provide Mike and Liz with an insight into some of the excellent work that is delivered in Northumberland with our arranged visit to The Pegasus Centre. This facility which was developed thanks to Sport England’s Community Investment Funding, provides a fantastic opportunity for young people with disabilities in Northumberland with an opportunity to participate in all aspects of riding.
Further Information
To find out more about riding opportunities at The Pegasus Centre, please visit their website. Alternatively, please visit our Sport Unlimited site.
