Manchester To Hold Para Swimming World Championships

The Para Swimming World Championships are due to be held at the Manchester Aquatics Centre between July 31st and August 6th 2023, hosted in partnership with UK Sport and Manchester City Council.

This will be the first time Manchester has hosted the world-class competition, with previous championships having been held in London in 2019 and Glasgow in 2015.

The Aquatics Centre itself was purpose built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, costing a cool £32 million. It now forms part of a collection of community and elite facilities governed by non-profit MCRactive and overseen by Manchester City Council, responsible for promoting sport and physical activity in the city, as well as inspiring people to lead active, healthy lifestyles.

Grace Harvey, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic silver medalist, said: “I’m incredibly excited that the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships are coming to Manchester. It’s my home pool, so it’ll just be great to have some really fast competition right before the 2024 Paralympics in Paris the following year.

“Having the competition in Manchester is really special. A lot of the British Para swimming athletes are based in Manchester, so it’ll be a great home advantage – and I know we actually love competing here whenever we get the chance to do that!”

Meanwhile, the first leg of the 2022 Para Swimming World Series in Aberdeen has just come to a close, with Ellie Challis setting a new British record in the women’s 100m freestyle S3 – ensuring her a place at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira later this year.

And Stephen Clegg was just 0.05 seconds away from breaking his own world record in the men’s 100m butterfly, landing in 56.80.

 

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Donate Your Musical Instruments To Help Disabled Musicians!

A teenager with Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic condition, has called on people around the UK to donate any unwanted musical instruments they might have at home to help encourage more disabled people to take up music lessons.

According to the Norwich Evening News, 16-year-old Charlie Pinner first got involved with charity Electric Guitar last year during lockdown and is now helping support its appeal to collect 1,000 instruments by Christmas.

Electric Umbrella itself collects and adapts secondhand instruments to help make them more accessible for people with disabilities. It was set up five years ago and also puts on concerts, festivals and other events, as well interactive online musical sessions for members to participate in and enjoy.

Charlie, who hails from Hellesdon, had this to say: “Electric Umbrella has encouraged me to sing, dance and make my own music with lots of different instruments. It has meant that I can have conversations and make friends with all sorts of people from all over the world.”

Co-founder of Electric Umbrella Tom Billington made further comments, saying that the aim is to encourage people to think differently about disabled people by empowering them to take centre stage and display their talents.

He said: “By donating your unwanted and unloved musical instruments, you can be part of a movement to change people’s perceptions and make the world a more inclusive place.”

The charity is also putting together a collection of professional musicians to play in the Electric Umbrella house bands, making the members look and sound like the rock stars that they are.

The repertoire includes a lot of standard function music, but there are also two albums of original material that’s used a lot at gigs. The newest album is called Sunflower Avenue and is available on iTunes, as well as on CD!

 

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Relaxing Planning Rules ‘Puts Accessible Homes At Risk’

A coalition of housing, ageing and disability charities have issued a warning that proposals to relax planning rules could create more problems for the existing shortage of accessible homes in the UK, homes that are safe and suitable for older and disabled people.

The Housing Made for Everyone (HoME) coalition is now calling on the government to resist calls to relax regulations in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, saying in an open letter that the pandemic has revealed just how important it is that people have homes suited to their needs.

If current plans are adhered to, by 2030 there will be one new accessible home built for every 15 people over the age of 65, despite the fact that the UK is facing a huge demographic age shift.

The coalition now wants the government to establish an accessible and adaptable design standard, to be used as the regulatory baseline for all new builds.

Anna Dixon, chief executive of the Centre for Ageing Better said: “Lack of accessible housing is a major problem in the UK, and we must not let the disruption of the COVID-19 crisis distract the government from its mission to build more suitable homes.

“The houses we build today will be with us for decades to come, so it is vital we build for the future – a future in which more of us will live to older ages.”

In fact, a new research has just been launched designed to help social landlords offer support to more of their residents and help them live independently in accessible homes.

Foundations, the national body for home improvement agencies, is investigating how housing associations and others could invest in home adaptations to help those tenants with sight loss and dementia, Home Care Insight reports.

The aim is to help more people carry on living independently in their own homes for as long as possible, with seven themes being explored, including the use of specialist staff, policies and protocols around adaptations, as well as seeing what support is currently being offered to tenants in moving home instead of having properties adapted.

If you’re thinking of adapting your home to make it more comfortable and ensure that you can continue living there for as long as possible, there are lots of changes you can make, both big and small.

Adjustable beds, for example, come with simple controls that can make it easier for you to get in and out of bed, while installing motion sensor lights mean you can reduce the chances of falling in the dark.

In the bathroom, you could opt for easy access baths or shower seats in the shower so you can walk straight in and sit down, also helping to prevent falls. If you’d like any further help or advice, get in touch with the Practical Bathing team today.

How Chess Is Changing Disabled People’s Lives For The Better

You might not make a connection between chess and improving life for people with disabilities, but an international chess tournament for disabled players has recently shown how playing the game can bring real benefits to people.

Anadolu Agency reported on the first Confederation Cup for disabled people organised by the Chess Federation (FIDE). The tournament was hosted earlier this month in Turkey, with 30 people from all over the world participating.

Campos Eugenio, a 44-year old chess player from Angola and one of the competitors at the event, explained why he thinks it’s so important to encourage people from all walks of life to play chess.

“Chess is an activity that creates equality among people. We sit at the same table to play chess. It is important to get people closer together through chess. Chess is a chance to fight discrimination,” he told the news provider.

Those taking part in the tournament have a range of disabilities, including physical disabilities, vision impairment and hearing impairment.

A game like chess can help to make people aware of different disabilities and the impact they can have on everyday tasks.

Earlier in December, the UN marked the International Day of People with Disabilities. Newsround reported that the organisation has celebrated the day every year on 3 December since 1992.

It was established to celebrate the achievements of disabled people around the world, as well as to promote disabled rights. According to UN figures, approximately one billion people worldwide experience some form of disability.

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App Launched To Help Dementia Patients Improve Their Environments

A new app has been designed to help carry out simple assessments of the homes of dementia patients and older people so they can be improved with all necessary changes required.

Devised by the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), the app can digitally work out how suitable a care facility, residence or other environment is for certain demographics, recommending changes that could be made to the building.

It’ll be free to download from autumn this year and will take about 20 minutes to assess the suitability of a two-bed house for an older person. Recommendations for alterations may include reconfiguring bathrooms with changes like easy access baths and similar, or may be something as simple as just changing a lightbulb.

“Typically, people living with dementia have greater demands on the health care services and providing guidance on how to adapt living conditions allows people to stay independent for longer and future proofs housing for autonomous living,” chief architect at DSDC Lesley Palmer said.

In the meantime, if you’re looking to make changes to parts of your house such as the bathroom, make sure you read our most recent blog post on how to make this living space safer for anyone with mobility issues.

Tips include investing in anti slip floor covering to help prevent slips, as well as installing grab bars and rails in the shower and near the bathtub. Often, you won’t need to make huge changes to the bathroom in order to make it safer so don’t assume that a complete overhaul will be necessary.

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How To Keep Active With A Disability

It’s important to keep as active as you possibly can, no matter what kind of disability you have. There is always something you can do, no matter how small, that could make a difference to your overall health and wellbeing.

The NHS has some useful guidance to help you if you’re not sure where to start. You may shy away from the thought of joining a gym but there are many adapted gyms around the UK that could be a good fit for you and many of them work with local councils as well as the NHS, providing GP referral schemes for those with disabilities.

Remember that even ten minutes of exercise can make a real difference. Start off small by doing ten minutes a day, then build this up if you can to at least 150 minutes a week. It’s important to try and keep your exercises varied so they don’t become boring – after all, if you enjoy it you’re more likely to continue it well into the future.

The more exercise you do, the stronger you’ll get, the better you’ll feel and the longer you’ll live. While you might be inspired to start exercising to lose a bit of weight, you’ll find that the added benefit of getting fitter is that it’s also a great mood booster as well. Self-confidence can also increase as a result of hitting the gym or even just doing a few simple exercises at home by yourself or with a friend – and you’ll even sleep better and feel less stressed as well!

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