The Making Days North Mini Olympics

It’s been a busy few months for the Making Days North team. The launch of the Making News team has opened up a platform for service users to talk about issues and events concerning them and the local community.

Within the group service users choose topics that they think the rest of our centre will be interested in hearing about. They then plan how they will get the content (interviews, pictures etc.) and then chase up all the information in over a month or two.

Here Ryan Batt, Making News’ chief reporter discusses last month’s Mini Olympics with Kyle Lee, Activities Coordinator at Making Days North.

So Ryan, can you tell us a little bit about the different activities that were on throughout the day?

“I started off with Walking Football. This was easy for everyone to try and if they like it they can join in on a Thursday”.

Kyle: The walking football group that we attend on a Thursday morning has been quite popular with our service users. Here in Liverpool, football plays a big part in many households. Walking Football is an accessible sport for lots of people no matter of their ability.

“I then went on to do the egg and spoon race. You have to stay very calm, it was nice for everyone to have a try.”

Kyle Throughout the day we had tried to structure the events so that they were all inclusive. It was not about the winning, it was purely about taking part. The egg and spoon race was a highlight of the day where everyone could get involved.

“I was great at the Welly throw. Robert was very good at it too”.
Kyle: A popular event of the day was the welly throw. It was amazing to see how far everyone could throw, but even better to see was the smiles on people’s faces as they were trying something new. There’s not much resource involved with this activity, literally a couple of wellies and a few cones. Cheap, but very affective!

“I didn’t take part in the sitting down volleyball but I did enjoy cheering my mates on”.

Kyle: Since the mini Olympics, Making Days North has gone on to buy its own volleyball net. Sitting down volleyball is another example of how we can get more people involved without worrying about ability. We’ll be setting up our own team in the very near future, so if anyone would like to challenge us please drop us a line!

As the Olympic and Paralympic games were both set in Brazil this year we thought it would be nice to add a little taste of Rio to our event. In the afternoon we had two Zumba sessions that were led by the “Katumba Brazilian Drum troupe”. Katumba are one of Liverpool’s finest examples of Brazilian drumming. Julianna who runs the group is involved in a whole manner of different workshops and was very keen to get involved with our event. They provided the beats and rhythms for our service users to get involved with a bit of dance and a lot of exercise.

“I liked the drumming and the dancing, I even had a dance myself. I’ve been to Brazil and it was nice to see some Brazilian music at our event. It reminded me of being on holiday”.

Kyle: The final event of the day was one that everyone could get involved with. Our inclusive relay was split into three sections and was a great opportunity to bring everyone together.

“I did quite well in the relay, everyone tried their best. Everyone should be proud of themselves for taking part in this event”.

Kyle: To add a little glamour to the event everyone involved was awarded a Gold medal for taking part. There was no emphasis on winning all day. If you scored a goal you were praised, if you dropped your egg halfway through the race, you were praised. The fact everyone had a go at something new made the event a total success.

Everton FC sent down Graeme Sharp to hand out the medals at the end of the event. Graeme did more than hand out medals, he spent time talking to Service users and Staff, and even had a little kick around with a couple of service users.

“I got my picture with Graeme Sharp. Even though I am a Liverpool fan and he played for Everton, It didn’t matter. It’s all about getting out and taking part.”

Kyle: Special thanks must be given to Frank Meadows and Crosby Stuart FC. Frank is a support worker at Making Days North, and in his spare time he runs a youth football team. A long with Liverpool City Council, Crosby Stuart FC provided most of the sporting equipment for the day.

We’d also like to thank Rice Lane City Farm for providing such a great venue for our event. We will hopefully be working together again in the not so distant future.
Well done to all involved. You were all great.