Wythenshawe Games Wythenshawe Games is an initiative which capitalises on the momentum of the Olympics to inspire local residents to engage in sport, physical activity and healthy lifestyles in one of Manchester s most economically disadvantaged communities. Culminating in a festival of sport, which takes place in the weeks immediately prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games, Wythenshawe Games was launched on February 22nd 2012 with a Personal Best programme. The aims of Wythenshawe Games are: To increase participation in sport and physical activity by Wythenshawe residents To improve pathways to sport and physical activity in the community To build the capacity of community sports delivery in Wythenshawe To showcase Wythenshawe s high quality community sports facilities and promote Wythenshawe as a high quality location for community sport Wythenshawe Games includes the following key elements: A Personal Best Programme; enabling individuals to identify personal health improvement/increased physical activity targets to achieve over a period of 6 months during the lead-in to the Games A Sports Programme of 20 coached sports courses, family fun days and competitions A Community Sports Festival including an Olympic-style Village and Arena in an arena in Wythenshawe Park during nine days, showcasing a range of sports A Cultural Programme, including an Opening Ceremony and a closing Party in the Park Help us bring the olympic spirit to the Wythenshawe community Health Enjoyment Fun Personal Best Wythenshawe Games Personal Best programme is an initiative which aims to engage local residents in a range of physical activity opportunities over a period of 6 months during the lead into the Games. Amongst other activities, participants can choose from Zumba, walking, running,
swimming, cycling and even a wii fit programme. Personal Best is also supported by the Community Health Trainer team, so that participants can achieve health improvement targets such as weight loss, giving up smoking, and stress reduction as part of their personalised programme. Everyone taking part in Personal Best undergoes an individual assessment at the beginning of their programme and sets an achievable goal with their coach in relation to their own personal starting point. Through the Programme participants can achieve Gold, Silver or Bronze levels. These levels relate to their improvement (against their own baseline) in a chosen activity. One person could achieve gold by running 10km, for someone else learning to ride a bike could be their gold target, for yet another participant who begins the programme from a very sedentary starting point, achieving Gold could mean walking for 15 minutes three times a week. Each participant completes a Personal Best Passport, which is signedoff by their coach in order to achieve a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal. Sports Programme Registration for the sports programme takes place from April 2012. The programme includes coached courses, family fun days and competitions in twenty sports. Included in the programme are athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, cheerleading, cricket, cycling, dance, football, gymnastics, hockey, rugby league, rugby union, running, softball, table tennis, tennis, trampolining and wheelchair dance & basketball. All activities are being delivered by community sports clubs where possible. In sports where clubs do not currently exist, programmes have been developed in partnership with Manchester City Council sports development team, and National Governing Bodies of sport, with an intention to launch new clubs as a legacy of the Games. In order to increase capacity of community sports groups to deliver on the sports programme and the legacy plan, Wythenshawe Games is supporting the development of coaching and volunteering in all clubs taking part in the Games.
Sports Festival Wythenshawe Games culminates in a nine-day festival of sport in Wythenshawe Park, one of Manchester s most beautiful community parks and host to some great community sports facilities - an athletics track, tennis courts, bowling greens, football pitches, a community farm and an historic Hall. In addition to these existing resources the festival will install a temporary sports arena in the centre of the park during 21 29 July, which will be programmed with 10 hours of drop-in sports activity every day for nine days. This will be complemented by an Olympic -style village of stalls which will be let on a daily basis to key stakeholders such as NGBBs, health improvement initiatives, and community sports groups amongst others. During the sports festival, key dates will be designated to our special events programme. This includes: A Special Olympics Day, Monday 23 July An Older People s Sports Day, 25 July A Youth Games, 27 July Cultural Programme A programme of community arts activities is currently in development to support the Games. This programme will culminate in exhibitions of themed work during the festival week to showcase activity as well as an inspirational Opening Ceremony to be held at Wythenshawe Forum on Friday 20 July and a temporary stage in Wythenshawe Park to support the final weekend of the Games, including programming of a Party in the Park by BBC Radio Manchester on the afternoon of Sunday 29 July.
Volunteering Wythenshawe Games is engaging more than 300 volunteers across the range of its activities during a 6 month period. Volunteers are being recruited from the local community and local businesses. Opportunities will include roles in: Customer Service Orientation Activity Leadership Coaching Stewarding & marshalling Over 8000 people potentially taking part in activities - many trying sports for the first time Volunteer recruitment is being delivered through existing volunteer programmes at Parkway Green and Willow Park housing trusts, with specific recruitment campaigns focusing on the Games. Legacy Key outcomes of Wythenshawe games will include: Over 3,500 potential participants in coached programmes and tournaments taking advantage of opportunities to learn new skills and improve existing skills. 8,000+ participants engaged in drop-in activities in Wythenshawe Park during the sports festival, at least 50% of these trying new sports for the first time. More than 500 participants engaged in health improvement/physical activity targets through the Personal Best programme, approximately 60% of these formerly participating in no activity. 300 volunteers engaged. At least 100 of these gaining new skills and references from their participation in the Games. 7 new community sports clubs established
Bringing together key stakeholders from the Wythenshwe Community Ongoing participation following the delivery of the Games will be supported through existing infrastructure such as local sports groups, Manchester City Council Sports Development, Greater Sport (Manchester s CSP), National Governing Bodies of Sport and other local stakeholders such as Manchester United Foundation. Delivery of Wythenshawe Games Wythenshawe Games brings together key community stakeholders to create a lasting legacy of sports engagement in one of the most disadvantaged communities of Manchester. Delivery of the Games is directed by a multi agency Board coordinated by Parkway Green Housing Trust. The Board includes representation from: Manchester City Council, Willow Park Housing Trust, Wythenshawe Forum Trust, Manchester United Foundation, Manchester College and University Hospital South Manchester. For more information about the please contact: Lou Englefield lou@pridesports.org 07949 604610 Craig Leech craig@pridesports.org 07580 114854