National Sports Inclusion Award for Mayo Sports Partnership
Date: 15-12-2021
Mayo Sports Partnership have been awarded the National Xcessible Silver Award for sports inclusion by CARA, the body responsible for disability sport in Ireland. After obtaining the bronze award in 2020 the Partnership is now the first in the country to achieve the next step on the social inclusion award ladder.
Building a strong foundation for inclusion and nurturing the relationships with the Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) has always been a priority for Cara. Xcessible has been developed to help support and empower LSPs & NGBs to positively and meaningfully provide opportunities for people with disabilities to take part, sustain participation and excel in sport and physical activity. Through the Xcessible Award, Cara supported and guided Mayo Sports Partnership to create more opportunities through coaching, participation, volunteering, officiating, and high performance while building a strong strategic platform for inclusion within the organisation.
Xcessible is three staged resourced pathway designed to ease an NGB or LSP into the area of Inclusion and supports them through the process of developing and increasing their capacity to support people with disabilities within sport and physical activity. The main purpose of the programme is to enable NGBs & LSPs to function inclusively with limited support from specialist agencies and to enable them to realise their vision of inclusion and to understand & reflect on their current provisions and philosophy of inclusion for people with disabilities.
Xcessible has been developed by using the Sport Inclusion Disability Charter as a guiding tool. Organisations were guided through the silver award under the headings of Openness, People, Activities, Facilities and Promotion and was supported by Cara through each area and set realistic and manageable goals and deadlines.
Mayo Sports Partnership was required to provide evidence of their work and journey and presented to the Xcessible panel at the end of November on their experiences, results and outcomes of their work completed in line with the objectives of the Xcessible Award.
Reflecting on the success of Mayo Sports Partnership in achieving the Xcessible Silver Award; Cara’s Sport Inclusion Coordinator Odhrán Doherty said:
Cara is delighted to recognise the continued outstanding work undertaken by Mayo Sports Partnership in empowering inclusive structures and strategies to support people with disabilities in accessing a broad range of Sport and Physical Activity opportunities within communities throughout Co. Mayo by awarding them with the Xcessible Silver Award.
Mayo Sports Partnership began their journey on the Xcessible programme in March 2020 and achieved the bronze award in December 2020. At all stages of their journey Mayo Sports Partnership staff, board and key stakeholders have displayed a huge level of commitment and passion towards inclusion for people with disabilities in Sport and Physical Activity in Mayo.
We congratulate Mayo Sports Partnership on being the first Local Sports Partnership to achieve Xcessible Silver and we look forward to supporting them on the next stage of their journey in 2022.
Mayo Sports Partnership Chairman Cllr Michael Loftus added “ This award is a tribute to the hard working staff of Mayo Sports Partnership who continually strive to include people of all abilities in their programmes. Special mention to Sports Inclusion Disability Officer Ray Mc Namara who leads out on these initiatives and who co-ordinated the application process”
Over 500 people with a disability participate in 20 Sports Inclusion Programmes annually with many of these initiatives small in number but high in impact on the individuals health and wellbeing. Stressing the importance of collaborating with local agencies and disability services Sports Partnership head Charlie Lambert stated “ Without the co-operation of local partners supplying volunteers, transport, equipment and facilities we just would not be able to provide the level of participation opportunities we do. Its all down to working in partnership and we are particularly thankful for the close working relationship we have with all stakeholders in the provision of these opportunities”
To find out more about CARA go HERE
Any queries on Mayo Sports Partnerships Sports Inclusion Programme can be forwarded to Sports Inclusion Disability Officer Ray Mc Namara Tel 094 9064362 or email msp@mayococo.ie.