Anthony Brooke a huge rugby fan from Bradford had always wanted to play the sport, but on approaching clubs was offered the position of water boy or encouraged to play tag rugby due to his learning and physical disabilities. In 2008 in an adult social skills class...
IMAS is delighted to announce that Barry Horne MBE has joined the IMAS Board and the Mixed Ability family! Barry is the Chief Executive of Activity Alliance, the National charity which works to get more disabled people active across England. Over the past 12 years,...
IMAS and Mixed Ability Sports Ireland are incredibly excited to unveil the official Mixed Ability Week and International Mixed Ability Rugby Tournament 2022 photobook as part of the event legacy programme. Following the incredible success of a week of fully...
Two pioneering clubs and their journeys to becoming fully inclusive. Picturesque Bingley St Ives golf club in West Yorkshire overlooks the Aire Valley, a route to the beautiful Yorkshire dales. The club has come together with International Mixed Ability Sports...
Erasmus+. Yes of course! That was my answer when I was asked to participate in the Mixed Ability Rugby for All (MIXAR) project back in 2018. Being able to go abroad and learn from like-minded people, who wouldn't want to do that? As you notice I was immediately...
On Wednesday 21st September, IMAS Trainers Bronte and Cam attended an online meeting with the House of Lords, to discuss how sport can be made more inclusive and accessible for young people. This blog is a selection of excerpts from the meeting transcript. We’d...
Ever since Anthony Brooke founded the Bumbles RUFC in 2009, asserting his right to play full contact rugby, Mixed Ability has grown across the globe and across a wide range of sports. From rugby to rowing, bowls to basketball, grassroots sports clubs are...
Based in Swindon, Sam at Inclusfit runs fully inclusive fitness classes for a wide range of participants. Sam is an experienced, award-winning fitness instructor, personal trainer and a UK Disability Fitness Expert. We caught up with her to find out more about her...
At IMAS, we want to make sport inclusive for everybody who faces barriers to participation. With World Diabetes Day coming up, IMAS team member Imogen spoke to two IMAS Trainers and Bumble Bees Rugby Club members – Cam and Paul - about how diabetes affects their...
Earlier this week we posted the latest #WhoSays misconception around disabled people’s inclusion within sport, specifically, ‘who says disabled people might get hurt?’ This concept clearly resonated with a lot of readers and at the time of writing has been shared...
This week see’s the launch of a new campaign by Activity Alliance entitled ‘Who Says?’. The campaign focuses on challenging misconceptions around disability sport and inclusion with a new theme to be announced each week over the next month and a half. Barry Horne,...
Historia En Marzo de 2017, durante un entrenamiento del equipo de Yaguares Rugby Club, apareció un joven con síndrome de Down llamado Fernando, que para sorpresa de todos, quería entrenar a rugby. “Chayanne”, como le gusta que lo llamen, había vivido en España y ...
In January 2018, York and District Indoor Bowls club threw open their doors for a Mixed Ability bowls taster day. Working with IMAS the club contacted local disability support services to promote a day of integration. The club has a history of involving disabled...
My name is Ian Bourne and I was born in 1966 with Cerebral Palsy as a result of the umbilical cord getting wrapped around my neck at birth, leading to brain damage which affects both my speech and co-ordination. I have always strived to lead as normal a life...
As a profoundly deaf player with cerebral palsy Tom may have felt that contact rugby wasn’t going to be a possibility. However, it is just 3 months since his first training session and he has already represented Derby RFC in a full contact match and visited Sixways...
Sport England announced a £40m investment to get families across the country active[1] earlier this year. As part of their ‘Towards an Active Nation’ strategy they identified that parents and families play a major role in creating sporting habits amongst children...
