Registered
Public benefits
The facilities which the Club provides for players enable people with learning and physical disabilities from across the community to participate in recreational and sporting activities which assist with their social development as well as with advancement of the sport. The activities greatly enhance the social skills and social welfare of the
participants requiring ongoing fitness activities and communication skills to be demonstrated between players. The facilities have also been used to host mixed ability rugby matches including a visit by a Mixed Ability Club from Cork and by the Mixed Ability Rugby International (MARI) team on 20th May 2023. The Club promotes itself to special educational needs schools and disability rugby sectors including the New Forge Taggers. Participation in social events, physical activities and mixed ability rugby promotes the overall health and well-being of those involved. Other benefits include the development of confidence and self-esteem. Some players arrive noticeably shy and reserved but then develop into outgoing personalities. The expression of social skills and feelings is sometimes not straightforward and the Club provides a forum to develop physical ability, social interaction and self-confidence. It also provides a forum where people with disability and without disability gain an understanding of each other through competing against each other on the same playing field. Training and coaching helps with the education of individuals in respect of the challenges posed by disability generally and the benefits of participation in sport: including increasing personal fitness levels and taking personal responsibility for health and well-being. There has already been a marked increase in individual skill levels in the playing of the sport. The Benefits may be demonstrated through positive news coverage on BBC and UTV television and in local newspapers. There were a number of supportive pieces about the Club in June 2022 when the team too part in the Mixed Ability Rugby World Cup where it finished 3rd out of 36 teams. A player from our Club with learning disabilities was awarded Player of the Tournament which was the highest individual award chosen from approximately 1100 participants. On receiving the award he asked to speak and addressed all participants with great dignity and warmth. Another parent whose son has autism has described how he could be worryingly quite and withdrawn before he joined the Club. He engages openly and enthusiastically about all aspects of the sport and rarely misses training. His manners are exemplary and he often makes a point of individually thanking coaches. Participation in all sports involves risk of injury. However, mixed ability rugby is a contact sport where great care is taken to minimise risk. This ca take the form of players wearing different coloured scrum-caps and vests to identify particular vulnerabilities. There is a high level of understanding amongst facilitators, those without disability, of the need to ensure that contact is appropriate to avoid injury. Risks are significantly outweighed by the benefits accruing from the provision of healthy recreational and social activities. People with learning and physical disabilities aged from 18 years with no upper age limit. No.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
The Club is established to promote healthy recreation through the provision of facilities to play the amateur sport of Mixed Ability Rugby and other recreational or leisure-time occupations in the interests of social welfare for the benefit of people with learning and physical disabilities (hereinafter called "the beneficiaries") within Northern
Ireland (hereinafter called "the area of benefit") without regard to age (save that the beneficiaries are over the age of 18), gender, sexual orientation, ability, disability, ethnic identity, nationality, religion or political opinion so that their conditions of life may be improved and in particular: To develop the amateur sport of Mixed Ability Rugby by providing and arranging rugby coaching, training, matches and entering competitions for the benefit of the beneficiaries.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of amateur sport
- The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
Who the charity helps
- Physical disabilities
How the charity works
- Sport/recreation