The National Emergencies Trust has provided £2,845 of match funding
Keep Go Kids Go Going!
Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Aim
We need your support to help us run wheelchair skills workshops across the UK for children who are wheelchair users
Go Kids Go have been delivering free wheelchair skills training workshops for over 30 years now. All our workshops are open to young wheelchair users across the UK and are completely free of charge to families attending.
After a turbulent couple of years during the pandemic we need your support to help keep Go Kids Go going! The money raised will ensure we are able to keep providing our training sessions, and with match funding from the National Emergencies Trust even a small donation can make a big difference. Any additional funds will be used to cover equipment costs and maintenance costs ... for example a new wheelchair can cost us over £1000.
In the UK when children are provided with a wheelchair, they are given very little, if any, training on how to use their wheelchair safely and efficiently-
‘Before attending a Go Kids Go workshop my child had never had the opportunity to learn any wheelchair skills to help her become independently mobile in his wheelchair.’
Our Wheelchair Skills Workshops will teach children key mobility skills in their wheelchairs, including:-
- Learning to self-propel over different surfaces, including tackling obstacles in the outside environment.
- Learning how to safely ascend and descend ramps/slopes in a wheelchair.
- How to tackle kerbs in a wheelchair.
- The advanced skill of descending a staircase in a wheelchair
Alongside the teaching of essential wheelchair skills we will also introduce the children to wheelchair sports, including wheelchair basketball. These activities demonstrate to both the child and their parents the potential for active participation in wheelchair sports and many leave our workshop enthused to find a local wheelchair sports group:-
'My son loved the game of wheelchair basketball and he dreams of being a Paralympian one day.'
What do children gain from attending a Go Kids Go workshop?
The teaching of practical wheelchair mobility skills will have a long and lasting effect on children who are wheelchair users. At the workshops we will equip them children with the the necessary skills to be able to self-propel their wheelchair and the confidence to apply these skills in the outside world.
All these elements will help to ensure that the child can lead a full and active childhood and is confident to be independently mobile in their wheelchairs. Parents/carers will also feel reassured that their child can manage in the outside work and enjoy social and leisure activities with their able bodied peers.
'We especially enjoyed the wheelchair skills, learning to tackle slopes and kerbs and how to cope with falling out of the wheelchair. All vital skills to help my daughter be independent as she grows older.'
This project successfully funded on 20th April 2022