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| NADS Enews - September 2010 | www.nads.org.uk |
Welcome to the NADS monthly Newsletter!To join NADS contact us at: info@nads.org.uk |
Look after disabled fans - its good for business
NADS is always keen to remind the wider sporting world of just how big a market place is represented by disabled supporters. In addition to backing the events in 2012, NADS is positively supporting the 2018 World Cup bid, recognising the many benefits that this will also bring in terms of accessibility to stadiums around the country. 'Cardiff City’s New Stadium: Good Practice - In Practice'
The Ground has 123 Home and 28 Away fan wheelchair places giving good visibility; a number of headsets are available (for home and away fans) for blind and partially sighted fans providing live internet commentary. Within the concourse areas there are a number of low level refreshment kiosk counters for wheelchair users.
Do let us know of your experiences at other grounds as your feedback is invaluable to us. Comments can be made by visiting the Fans Comments section for each club listed on the NADS website. Please keep us informed of your experiences - good or bad Here at NADS, we take your views very seriously and can contact clubs and organisers to make sure that where there are problems, these can be resolved and, where things have gone well, we'd like to give the appropriate words of praise as well. Your views, more than any, are so important to us. You can email us at info@nads.org.uk, telephone us on 0845 230 6237, or write to us at the following address: Alternatively you can leave a comment on the fans pages for the relevant club via the NADS website. To view the latest comments added to the website please click on the links below: 1. Stoke City FC v Aston Villa (and every match) 2. Millwall v Heart of Midlothian - pre season friendly 3. Gillingham v Heart of Midlothian - pre season friendly 4. Colchester United v Sheffield Wednesday - 16th Aug 2010 5. Chesterfield v Lincoln City - 13th Sept 2010 6. Southampton v Colchester United - 19th Sept 2010 To leave your own comment on a stadium you have visited go to our website www.nads.org.uk and select the clubs tab and click on the relevant club. Seb Coe invites NADS members to get involved with the London 2012 Games
"The summer of 2012 will be here before we know it, so now is the time to start planning your Games", writes Coe. "One of the ways we are asking people to get involved is by volunteering with us. The success of London 2012 will depend on a diverse group of up to 70,000 dedicated and brilliant volunteers. Whether directing spectators, checking accreditation or managing media, you will be right at the heart of the action, welcoming the whole world and showing what the UK has to offer. We call our volunteers the London 2012 Games Makers as they will literally make the Games happen for athletes, spectators and media alike." "We want people of all ages, backgrounds and of all abilities to apply to be Games Makers. Being a Games Maker will be challenging but the rewards are life-long. We want the best team players in the UK to apply, people who show the same qualities as our disabled and non-disabled athletes - dedication, focus, grace under pressure, adaptability, responsibility and pride in their endeavours." For more information and to find out how to apply please click here. Other London 2012 News: London 2012 Generalist Games Maker Applications now open - The six week application window closes at midnight on 27th October 2010. For more information please click here. Information for businesses in the community - LOCOG will soon be advertising opportunities for businesses to tender for contracts to supply services such as BSL interpretation, Braille and speech to text reporting services. There will also be opportunities to provide audio/video translation in BSL and audio description. In order for business to tender for these opportunities they must be registered on CompeteFor, this is the chosen website of London 2012 for the publication of Games – related contract opportunities. Once registered with CompeteFor businesses will automatically receive news of future tender opportunities from tier two suppliers or below. Register for CompeteFor to apply for this opportunity and to view current London 2012 tender opportunities. To register go to https://www.competefor.com/business/login.jsp For the latest vacancies at LOCOG please click on the link on the right hand side. Unsung Hero meets the heroes of '66
To read more about Mustapha and his award please click here. Picture supplied courtesy of Pete Norton. Special Olympics Great Britain - 1st Annual Unified Football® Tournament Winners
Special Olympics Great Britain’s 1st Annual Unified Football® Tournament took place on Saturday 28 August, at the Tattenhoe Pavilion in Milton Keynes. The 7-a-side Tournament, supported by MK Dons Sport and Education Trust, pitted 5 teams including 55 athletes and partners from around the country against each other, with teams grouped together according to their level of ability to ensure a fair competition. There are currently over 400+ Unified players in 10 Special Olympics Great Britain clubs and many other groups around the country with plans to bring in more than 600 participants by the end of the year. The five teams competed all year to win a place. The results of the Tournament: Division A: Gold: Halton Team 2, Silver: Dulwich (Millwall), Bronze: Halton Team1; Division B: Gold: St Albans, Silver: MK Dons Unified Football team. To read more about the event and Unified Football please click here. Great Britain Deaf Team inspires Oxford City Oxford City have unveiled exciting plans to enter an inaugural side into the English Deaf Football League. The club plans to join the league comprised entirely of deaf footballers and will compete on a national stage, in both the Deaf Football League Cup and the British Deaf Football Cup. Oxford City can already claim an amazing 37 teams throughout the club, ranging from their senior squad to their various children's and ladies teams. There are also five learning disability teams registered with the Oxford City Casuals. The new side will therefore become become the 38th to wear City's blue and white hoops this season. City launched their new initiative with a showpiece on Saturday 31 July, when their second senior side the 'Oxford City Nomads' hosted the Great British Deaf team at Court Place Farm for the second year in succession, with the GB team taking the honours by 3 goals to 1. Watched by several hundred spectators, the day was heralded as a "huge success" by Oxford City, who have the highest accreditation from the Football Association as an 'FA Charter Standard Community Club'. "Have-A-Go" at The Royal National College for the Blind The RNC in Hereford, the UK's leading college of Further Education for people who are blind or partially sighted is opening it's doors 23rd - 24th October to those who are thinking of going to college next year or the year after. Arrival is 12 noon on 23rd, departing at 6pm on 24th and is free to all young people with sight loss aged 15-19. En suite accommodation, activities, food, refreshments and 24 hour support is all provided free of charge. Free accommodation is also available to an accompanying adult who wishes to stay over. For more information and a booking form please call RNC Enquiry Line on 01432 376621 or email info@rncb.ac.uk. Deputy Mayor Launches "Inclusive and Active 2" The Deputy Mayor, Richard Barnes launched “Inclusive and Active 2” on Monday 6th September in London‟s Living Room at City Hall. “Inclusive and Active 2” is the new five year sport and physical activity strategy for disabled people in London, and is being officially launched to coincide with the two year to go milestone for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, as the grass root sport and physical activity Games legacy for disabled people in London. Created in partnership between the Greater London Authority (GLA), NHS London and Interactive, the strategy presents a vision of active disabled Londoners and identifies targeted outcomes to increase opportunities for disabled people to participate in sport and physical activity. For more information please click here. Accessible BBC Programmes The BBC iplayer is an online, downloadable facility with an additional feature of specific programme lists for people who are blind, partially sighted, deaf or hard of hearing. Audio described programmes are listed here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/audiodescribed Whilst we're talking of television, the BBC's 'Ouch' website has listed the top ten programmes that your blind friends and colleagues would probably prefer you didn't ramble on and on about. Even though some of the top 10 did come with an audio description, the shows, claimed 'Ouch', lacked a certain something for blind viewers. Top of the charts was Strictly Come Dancing, whilst Ceefax squeezed in at number 10. No football in this chart, though, and the only sport to get a mention in this less than wanted top 10 was golf. So Gary Linekar can sleep peacefully for a while yet, even if he has turned to work with Lionel Richie. Hello?.... Still time to win a £5000 charity grant for NADS at the Click of a Button During September 2010, eBay is asking buyers and sellers to pick their favourite charity and we hope that as many as possible will opt for NADS. The three charities that receive the most votes will win an eBay grant, the top prize being £5000. Just follow the links below and nominate NADS:
http://donations.ebay.co.uk/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=32866 Other news in brief • RNIB campaigning to secure important new rights for disabled bus and coach travellers. Click here to support this urgent campaign. • Wheelpower National Junior Games, Stoke Mandeville, 21st to 24th September 2010. Click here for more information. • Mencap Sport National Table Tennis Championships 2nd - 3rd October 2010, Crew. Click here for more details. • Disability Sports Events National Snooker Championships 2010, 9th to 10th October, Manchester. For more information, click here. • Reading Powerchair FC are holding a demo day on Sunday 26th September at Rivermead Leisure centre, Richfield Ave from 2pm-5pm. To find out more please visit their website by clicking here. You can also contact Laura Ison by emailing her at l.ison1@sky.com. Membership The new NADS membership season is well underway now. To sign up or renew or find out a little bit more about the NADS membership please click here. |
Our Sponsors:
Make a charity donation online to support NADS works. Every donation (small and large) is very much appreciated:  Latest Job Vacancies Please click on the links below to view the current vacancies. London 2012: Oxford City Council: The Football Association: |
Companies could boost business by improving disabled access ahead of the London 2012 Paralympics, a government report has said. More than one million disabled visitors are expected in London for the games. The report, commissioned by the Business Department and Office for Disability Issues, found the disabled market is worth up to £80bn a year.
Disabled People Minister Maria Miller called the games an "opportunity to reach out to disabled customers". The report found disabled customers may account for up to 20% of a firm's customers - but 32% of disabled people have difficulty getting goods and services they want to use. The report claimed this meant small companies could be losing one in five of their customers.
Fans of Cardiff City will no doubt be excited by the prospect of a certain Mr Bellamy playing for the team this season as they aim to gain promotion to the Premier League. The club, of course, moved into its new stadium in 2009 and this marked a new era for the club and disability access for home and away fans.
There are 76 designated disabled supporters car parking spaces which must be reserved in advance. In addition, the Club also offers a shuttle bus drop off and pick facility - these need to be arranged with the club in advance of match days. One NADS member, visting the stadium for the first time said it was a great example of a football club and stadium that is welcoming to disabled fans. 
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A Football Coach with Cerebral Palsy, who is also a member of NADS, has been given an award by the 1966 football heroes for his work with a disabled football team. Mustafa el-Bayati works with the Northampton Town Multi Disabled Football Club. He was nominated for the national Unsung Hero Award 2010 by a fellow coach for his inspirational voluntary work with disabled players. He was announced as the winner at a recent dinner and received the trophy from some of England's 1966 World Cup Winners, including Roger Hunt and Gordon Banks. Gordon Taylor, who heads up the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) also congratulated him on the award. 
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National Association of Disabled Supporters: The Meridian, 4 Copthall House, Station Square, Coventry, CV1 2FL Helpline: 0845 230 6237 | Email: info@nads.org.uk | Web: www.nads.org.uk . You can also unsubscribe from this email newsletter at any time by clicking here |