Newport Live welcomed over 40 school children from Maes Ebbw Bach, Ysgol Bryn Derw, Llanmartin Primary, Jubilee Park Primary and Crindau Primary School on 13 May to the Regional Pool and Tennis Centre. Alongside partners from Welsh Government, Sport Wales, Disability Sport Wales, Newport City Council, and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board to showcase a range of inclusive sports activities, as part of a celebration event for Newport achieving insport Gold, the first local authority area in Wales to do so.
The national insport award is a Disability Sport Wales programme, which supports sport and physical activity sector partners, such as Local Authorities, and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs), to continuously improve, year on year, to meet the needs of local children, young people, families, and adults with disabilities or impairments.
There are four progressive Standards, designed to support partners to become more inclusive in their delivery, through a quality assured process that checks, challenges and develops each organisation’s approach to creating a single, integrated and inclusive sports system for Wales. Throughout the four Standards (Ribbon, Bronze, Silver and Gold), each partner is supported by Disability Sport Wales to grow their expertise and understanding of disability sport. The Gold award recognises Newport Live and Newport City Councils ongoing commitment to applying the philosophy and culture of inclusion through policy, working practice, and structuring delivery inclusively.
Fiona Reid, CEO, Disability Sport Wales said “Newport Live has been a proactive champion of inclusive sport for many years, and their achievement of insport Partnerships Gold is a fitting reflection of the value and priority they give to ensuring everyone within Newport has great access to a wide range of opportunities. Newport Live has been involved with the insport programme from its start in 2012 and has remained committed to inclusive growth and change in a progressive, embedded, and focused way. We know that their achievement of insport Partnerships Gold will not be the end point, they are an organisation who demonstrates continuous improvement, and we are therefore sure that inclusion will remain a central focus for the work the team do. To be the first organisation within a local authority area to achieve this standard of insport is significant, and we very much look forward to continuing to work alongside Newport Live into the future. Congratulations to everyone within the team and thank you for the work you have done to create inclusive change”
Steve Ward, CEO, Newport Live said, “I’m incredibly proud of our organisation to have been awarded insport Gold by Disability Sport Wales, alongside our partners at Newport City Council. This achievement is a testimony to our wonderful staff and colleagues who work so hard, and who role model our behaviours and values every day when coaching, engaging, or supporting participants and their families in our facilities, in schools, and in our communities in Newport ensuring we are as inclusive as possible. I’d like to thank Disability Sport Wales for their support throughout the insport process as well as our other partners in Education, Social Services, and Health, who have all worked to support this continuous improvement process. We are proud to be the first local authority in Wales to achieve insport Gold, and this achievement shows we are doing things well and will continue to do so into the future!”
Rhianydd Williams, Service Manager, Newport City Council said “Newport Live’s achievement of insport gold demonstrates the significant collaborative work they have undertaken within Newport to make a wide range of activities more inclusive and their commitment to continue to build on this. Newport City Council’s Strategic Equalities Group have supported and monitored progress through this insport journey, and we have been able to support Newport Live’s work and engagement in schools and communities which has supported Social Services children and families”.
Feedback this year from insport panel members highlighted how Newport Live adopts an inclusive approach to all its programmes and activities, recognising the diverse needs of individuals, and striving to ensure everyone feels welcome when engaging in sports, arts, or leisure. How the organisation is committed to providing accessible facilities, actively encouraging and valuing disabled individuals as customers, and how Newport Live collaborates with a wide range of local and national partners including Newport City Council’s Social Services and Education Teams, NGBs, and charities such as Sparkle. The organisation was also commended for its fully inclusive volunteer pathway, which highlighted examples of disabled pupils peer mentoring and leading activities in Maes Ebbw and with mainstream schools as part of school enrichment days.
The Disability Sport Wales insport panel stated in their feedback “The panel would like to pass on their congratulations to the team at Newport Live for their passion and enthusiasm towards inclusion. They are a notable example of an organisation who are striving to improve and can set an example to others with their commitment to the insport process”.
Newport will be the first local authority in Wales to receive insport Gold, marking a significant achievement. Find out more about Newport Live’s disability and inclusion and their community sport and wellbeing programmes
As Newport Live is a charitable organisation, all of its customers and members are helping to support the delivery of community projects and activities across Newport.
