A rarely-used recreational centre in Wakefield has been transformed into a hub of support and activity for disabled people in the district by Disability Sport Yorkshire.
Creative Minds funding enabled Disability Sport Yorkshire to turn Denhale Recreational Centre into a centre of excellence for disability sport, hosting regular bookings of inclusive activities for almost 30 hours every week.
Sports taking place at the centre include table tennis, bowls-style seated ball game boccia, and new age kurling (an adapted version of the original game of curling which allows players to compete on any smooth, flat indoor surface).
Disability Sport Yorkshire also offers a variety of training – including preparing young disabled people who are just leaving education for the job market using sport as a basis – and invites local organisations offering related activities to the Centre to encourage them to work with disabled people.
Kevan Halliday-Brown, chief executive of Disability Sport Yorkshire, said: “There’s around 60,000 disabled people in Wakefield and we found that a very large majority of them feel as though sport and sports centres are not suitable or accommodating for them. At our Centre, however, we welcome and support them – there are no centres like ours in the area. It has such an important role to play in the community. The project is really exciting and I think it will work really well as it grows.”
Denhale Active Recreation Centre can be found on Denhale Avenue, Wakefield, WF2 9EF. Contact the Centre on 01924 372382.