Deaf children will have more opportunities to take up swimming, after a leading deaf children’s charity received £160,000 of funding from Sport England’s Inclusive Sport Fund.
The National Deaf Children’s Society’s Deaf-Friendly Swimming Project is a three year programme that will work with swimming clubs, swim schools, leisure centres and local authorities to deliver swimming programmes, specifically aimed at fully including deaf children and young people.
Swimming is one of the sports deaf children say they most want to take part in, however hearing assistive technology such as hearing aids, must be removed.
This combined with a noisy swimming pool environment and the need to understand coaches from a distance, can make swimming extremely difficult for deaf children and young people.
Thomas Lyons, Sports Projects Manager at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to have received funding from Sport England. Too many deaf young people are being denied the opportunity to swim because many swimming providers don’t know how to meet their needs. Not only is swimming a life-saving skill, great fun and fantastic for building confidence, the ability to swim opens up a whole world of water-based activities, such as scuba diving, rowing, surfing and sailing.
“Our resources and workshops will show swimming providers that by making small and simple changes to swimming activities, such as using visual aids, swimming teachers and coaches can ensure that deaf young people have the same access to swimming as their hearing peers.”
The Deaf-Friendly Swimming Project is one of 44 schemes across England benefitting from Sport England funding. It is hoped the funding will create more opportunities for disabled people to play sport.
Sport England Director of Insight, Lisa O’Keefe, said: “We are delighted to be able to support the National Deaf Children’s Society and provide more opportunities for deaf children to give sport a go. Record numbers of disabled people now play sport and it’s thanks to organisations like this that we can continue to increase opportunities and make a real difference in communities.”
For more information regarding the Deaf-Friendly Swimming Project, visit www.ndcs.org.uk/me2or email swimming@ndcs.org.uk.
Photo by Jim Bahn
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J Platts
September 9, 2014
I have to say, this is amazing.
My mother is Deaf and having attended a deaf school that offered minimum education, she found herself falling for swimming and achieved several awards and medals for her success.
She always tells me now, being in a swimming pool shuts out all distractions. You are in your own zone and nothing can stop you from doing whatever you want to do in that pool.
I think for somebody that doesn’t have as much access to certain things as we may do, that must be a wonderful feeling. One can only imagine how that feels. She still now tells me that she can swim better than me, as if!
I firmly believe that deaf children, even today, still do not get enough support in educational settings so for this huge amount to be so generously donated, is so lovely to see and I hope that these kids enjoy and use the facilities offered to their advantage.
We may even have a future Deaf Rebecca Adlington on our hands!!
JP.