Wakefield heptathlon games – bringing the spirit of London 2012 to local people

On Thursday 10 May local people from Wakefield who use Trust services and their carers joined the Trust’s health and wellbeing development team at Thornes Park for a cycle relay.

The cycle relay was the first event in the Wakefield heptathlon games – a series of sporting activities organised for local people aged 50+ and adults with a physical and/ or sensory impairment to give them the opportunity to get active and get involved in London 2012.

People from across the district joined the cycle relay, and using 2, 3 and 4 wheeled bikes or specially adapted foot and hand propelled bikes competed in races and time trials.

Jill Poole, health and wellbeing development team lead said, “Everyone who came along to the cycle relay got involved and despite the weather, it was a brilliant event which participants seemed to really enjoy.

“We organised the heptathlon games to challenge people to get involved and achieve a goal that they can be proud of. We wanted to encourage them to go for gold!

“Our heptathlon games have also been officially granted the Inspire mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme, which recognises that the programme will enable local people to make positives changes to their lives.”

The heptathlon games have been organised by the Trust’s health and wellbeing development team in partnership with Age UK Wakefield district, Wakefield council and other local partners and throughout the summer people will be able to get involved in a number of sporting events including a 1 mile swim challenge, a 10k walk at Nostell Priory, a football tournament in July and a golden age triathlon.