The Leeds United Foundation partnered with the Leeds Community Foundation and Jimbo’s Fund earlier this year to launch two social club programmes for youngsters suffering with a disability.
The initiatives, entitled; United Teens and United Twenties, are hosted every Friday evening and are open to youngsters aged between 12 and 24, with the Teens session (12-17-year-olds) taking place from 4pm to 6pm and the Twenties sessions (18-24-year-olds) from 6.30 to 8.30pm.
The sessions have been really successful so far, giving young people who have a physical or learning disability, including cerebral palsy and autism, the chance to come along and have some fun whilst also learning lots of new skills.
Each session provides youngsters with varying disabilities the opportunity to meet on a regular basis, to enjoy a number of different activities and develop their abilities. Those taking part in the sessions also play a role in deciding what activities to plan, helping them to develop and improve their engagement levels and become more independent.
Some of the activities involved in the sessions include arts and crafts, sports and fitness sessions, teamwork activities, life skills, discussions around healthy eating and hygiene, confidence skills workshops, and sessions around budgeting and finance.
There are also guest speakers invited to attend sessions from local organisations in Leeds, including staff from the Leeds United Foundation and Leeds United Football Club – along with surprise visits from Lucas the Kop Cat.
One of the participants from the programme, Jordan, spoke about the social club’s and said: “I am really enjoying attending the social club as I get to meet people and we are all included in what activities we get to take part in. The social club really does give me something to look forward to.”
Please note that all coaches from the Leeds United Foundation are FA licensed, DBS checked, and first aid trained.
If you would like more information on the disability programmes delivered by coaches from the club’s official charity or would like to register interest in attending these sessions, please contact our Disability Sports Officer via email [email protected].
