The City of Salisbury’s Growing for Gold program is central to helping sporting clubs and recreation centres achieve the goals of Active Australia. Growing for Gold encourages children and their parents to visit local clubs and to try sports free of charge. It also provides additional incentives such as t-shirts and opportunities to meet Olympian and other high profile athletes.
The weeklong program is a major catalyst in the provision, promotion, and development of quality sporting and recreational opportunities within the City of Salisbury.
Growing for Gold provides opportunities for local children to try new sports with an intention of joining local teams, and it is now being used to train and develop the providers themselves to be more encompassing and inclusive of the broader community and their needs.
Salisbury has invited clubs participating in the Growing for Gold program to develop their awareness of providing inclusive opportunities by undertaking training.
Training is offered in the Count Me In’ and ‘Opening Doors’ workshops run in conjunction with the SPARC Disability Foundation and a multicultural project being piloted through the support of the SA Office for Recreation and Sport.
All projects definitely ‘opens doors’ to community participation. Count Me In and Opening Doors are part of the Australian Sports Commission’s Willing and Able program. Together they give providers of physical activity and sport information about attracting, including and retaining people with a disability in their program.
More specifically the workshops aim to demystify the perceived difficulty in working with people with a disability. Participants gain knowledge and skills in both disability awareness and attitudes, and also in adapting and modifying sports to make them more inclusive.
Other issues, such as physical access requirements, marketing and promotion, and ways to change the attitudes of existing members toward including people with disabilities in regular programs are addressed.
The City of Salisbury has taken the lead in recognising the importance of being proactive in ensuring that the needs of people with a disability are met in the local community.
Funding for the training is provided by Council and the SA Office for Recreation and Sport. Clubs are eligible for up to $500 each for undertaking all three initiatives.
For more information on this exciting and inclusive initiative contact the City of Salisbury’s Sport and Recreation Planner, Mark Band, telephone (08) 8406 8223 or email mband@salisbury.sa.gov.au
Claire Wittwer-Smith, Manager Education Programs at the SPARC Disability Foundation, can be contacted on (08) 8342 0900 or email clairew@sparc.asn.au
