YOUNG wheelchair users are invited to a workshop in Barnsley tomorrow designed to boost their skills, technique and confidence in getting about.
Charity Go Kids Go, formerly known as the Association of Wheelchair Children, is running a free wheelchair skills workshop at Greenacre School which is open to all children who use a wheelchair regardless of their school.
It’s the first time the national charity has run a course of this sort in Barnsley, although it did visit Burton Road Primary last year for a very different event where able-bodied youngsters tried their skills in a wheelchair for the day.
Roy Wild, who will be running the course tomorrow, said: “We do lots of those sorts of workshops in schools to give children an idea of what it would be like to use a wheelchair.
“The workshop we’re doing at Greenacre is for children of any age who use a wheelchair, usually from the age of about two up to about 18, but we do get some young adults older than that who want to come along.
“Sometimes it’s younger children who’ve perhaps just got their first wheelchair and are just learning how to se it.
“But sometimes its older children who’ve used a wheelchair all their lives, but perhaps never developed the confidence or the skills to get the most out of it.
“It’s very much about increased confidence, and hopefully out of that comes more independence.
“We do also gets mums and dads and families involved, we do bring adult wheelchairs for them to have a go in, and that’s often where a lot of the fun comes in, as we have a laugh when the parents and brothers and sisters struggle with it.”
The session will include an introduction to wheelchair sports but will also deal with skills such as back wheel balancing in order to go up and down kerbs independently, tackling small obstacles, and emergency evacuation procedures.
“We can even teach people how to come down a flight of stairs in a wheelchair if they need to and they’re able,” he said.
The event takes place tomorrow at Greenacre from 11am to 3.30pm. Anyone wishing to attend should call Go Kids Go on 01482 887163.
