Our Bradford services came up with the idea following the success of their other community classes – cooking and Clubbercise:

“We wanted to look for something to promote social inclusion for the people we support,” said Service Manager, Lou Richardson.

“We didn’t know anything about cricket or sports coaching – that’s well out of our remit! This was something really different and based outdoors,” she added.

Having already established a good relationship with Baildon Cricket Club, Lou approached the Director of Cricket Darren Wilson, and asked if the club would be willing to put on some coaching sessions for people we support.

Lou said:

It’s giving people the opportunity to do something different – something they might not even think about doing.

And doing it in a safe space, rather than just going to an independent cricket club without any reasonable adjustments or any support because that’s a really difficult thing for people to do.

Darren worked closely with our Bradford colleagues to make sure the activities would be as accessible and inclusive as possible.

“Some of these people had never picked up a cricket bat before, but that doesn’t matter. We make sure that everyone’s involved, everyone feels included and no one’s left out,” said Darren.

“We’ve also got everyone a Baildon hoodie,” he added. “So they feel like part of the club and when they’re out and about with their hoodie on, they can feel proud to represent Baildon and that can spark conversations with others.”

From left: Leon and some of the cricket group members; getting set up for a mixed-ability session

What people think of the sessions

Janet is 62. She likes classic cars, photography, and coming to the cricket sessions:

I enjoy it. It gets me out of mischief and I like seeing my friends. I love cricket and I love Ian Botham – he’s the best player.

Neil is 63. He supports Bradford City AFC and has also been enjoying learning to play cricket:

I like to hit the ball.

Support Worker Zeshan Najeeb said:

I think these sessions are brilliant. I come from a sports background and it’s good that we do some kind of physical activity and it’s good social bonding for people we support.

Alison Seed, Lead Senior Support Worker, agreed:

It’s good to see people we support enjoying it. It’s a really good session. It’s lovely.

Baildon’s long-term goal is to get a permanent mixed-ability team set up so they can play regular matches. They’d also like to involve the group in their presentation evening later in the year.

The mixed-ability cricket group in action

What is mixed-ability sports?

The club and our Bradford staff teamed up with Mark Goodwin, Co-founder of International Mixed Ability Sports (IMAS) to plan out what the sessions might look like.

Mark explained how everything at IMAS is co-produced with trainers who all have lived experience of disability. Their integrated approach is about ‘bringing communities together at a grassroots level’, breaking down barriers so everyone can participate in sports and learn from one another.

“Mixed-ability sports sessions are separate from the tradition of disability sports,” said Mark. “So, people with disabilities are coming to play cricket but they’re playing alongside members of the cricket club, volunteers, staff – so everybody’s playing together and feeling like they have a sense of belonging at Baildon.”

“It’s been a great partnership between our organisations and I hope we can build on that,” he added.

From left: Obaid, Neil, Anne-Marie, Marie, Anthony and Michael

The weekly sessions on Tuesday evenings are attended by 10-15 people we support, plus United Response staff, club volunteers, and people from the local community. People of all ages and abilities take part, with many of them staying afterwards for a drink and a chat in the clubhouse.

“I think it’s really good for us as an organisation to go out and engage clubs, whether it be cricket or whether it be something else,” said Lou.

It’s about promoting equality of opportunity, getting people to look at what needs to be done to support people so they think differently about what the norm should look like.

“This is something that Baildon has never done before,” she continued. “It’s really pushed them out of their comfort zone, but something that they’ve been quite committed to.”

Future plans

The next activity on the agenda for our Bradford team is a regular disco and bingo night.

Lou explained how there used to be many social events across Bradford for people with disabilities but there aren’t anymore, so they’re going to host some.

We can’t wait to see the photos!

Find out more about our Bradford support services
  • Jenna Lloyd is Senior Content Officer for United Response.