Derby Community Fund has provided £2,750 of match funding
Splashing Stars Swim Charity
Spondon, England, United Kingdom
Aim: We need a hoist for the pool to enable access for less physically able swimmers . We are also looking for a defib and case to have on site.
Our overall aims and objectives are – •To provide swimming lessons to children with additional needs. •To help build confidence, independence and friendships. •To introduce children to the enjoyment of water. Be able to teach swimming and safety skills in a non-competitive environment. •To provide lessons that cater for all abilities and needs. •To provide a safe environment completely suited for all children with additional needs, also a place where they can relax and be themselves and work at their own pace so personal goals can be achieved. •To work alongside and support families within their child’s swimming. •To raise funds to provide the best equipment and facilities within swimming for all the children with additional needs. Splashing Stars is a newly formed swim charity which hire a pool from Aquathlete. We provide swimming lessons for children with additional needs , we offer an environment and lessons that are suitable for them to learn and develop a new skill. We offer a heated pool which is set within its own pool room. The pool is a Hydro ( which the charity will be hiring ) it offers 2 Jacuzzi seats, under water treadmill, sensory lighting and a never ending current machine, it will also have its own disability wet room. In terms of people in our group, we support children with varying degrees of disability. The positive changes in these individuals will vary widely, depending on their condition, with changes ranging from improving confidence in the water and an awareness of water safety, through improving physical fitness and mobility, through to a truly life changing experience. For example, we have worked for 6 years with a young man with Down's Syndrome and he only now has the confidence to doggy paddle on his own. We have spent sessions where he wouldn't do anything, to now telling us what he's going to do, rather than us telling him, you can imagine the change that this has bought to his life. Another child was so petrified she would only cling on to the instructor in the pool. She is now swimming confidently on her own just using her floats. Following our support, these children now attend mainstream swimming lessons with their school, which makes their school experience a much more positive one, as it breaks down barriers with their peers. There are many children with additional needs that cannot swim, with no water safety or confidence. By offering this project we can change their lives for the better by giving the children somewhere to learn a new skill, improve their life style and have a sense of well-being. This funding is required to install a hoist that will allow our more physically disabled swimmers to easily and safely access the hydro pool. We are also looking to install a defibrillator and case to house it.