Shine news
16th July 2019
On Sunday 7th of July Shine staff, supporters and members came together at the University of Bedfordshire for an exciting activity day. We wanted to give members the opportunity to meet one another and to engage with the charity, but most importantly we wanted to promote wellbeing and show that healthy, active lifestyles can be fun for everybody and every body! We invited lots of other wonderful charities and organisations along so our members would benefit from trying and learning lots of new things.
People travelled from far and wide to join us on the day and really threw themselves into all the activities. We’ve had some lovely feedback from our visitors who valued “The time and effort of so many people that was spent in making sure all the children/ young people had an amazing time and the information shared. We met some truly amazing people”.
Others described Get Involved & Shine as “Excellent, friendly & very informative” and said “It gave a lot of opportunity to try things, learn things and meet other people”.
The event was the first of its kind and was a test run for what we hope will be an annual fixture in the Shine calendar. We’ve taken all feedback and suggestions on board so watch out for a bigger and better opportunity to Get Involved & Shine next year!
Shine would like to thank the following for their varied and vital contributions to the day:
News article by The University of Bedfordshire
Visitors Shine at University of Bedfordshire Physical Activity Day
The School of Sport Science & Physical Activity at the University of Bedfordshire hosted a Physical Activity Day in association with the charity SHINE (Spina bifida, Hydrocephalus, Information, Networking, Equality) on Sunday 7th July 2019.
Dr Andrew Mitchell, Dr Daniel Bailey, Dr Angel Chater and Dr Louise Croft from the University gave lectures on behaviour change, reducing sedentary behaviour and physical activity, and hosted a Q&A session for attendees to provide answers and advice for all their questions surrounding physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour.
The event was supported by postgraduate research student Rachael Champion and a number of current and former undergraduate students from the School of Sport Science & Physical Activity.
Visitors were also able to try frame football, plus other activities such as wheelchair basketball and wheelchair cheerleading which were led by University of Bedfordshire Sport Science & Physical Activity students.
The activities were held in the University’s Sports Hall, dance studio and Hub on the Bedford Campus
Over 100 visitors turned up from around the country to take part in the day.
One attendee said: “The young people that were present were an absolute inspiration”.
Dr Andrew Mitchell Head of School of Sport Science and Physical Activity said, “It was our pleasure to host this event with so many visitors on campus throughout the day.
“Numerous parents told me that this was the first opportunity their child had to try wheelchair basketball and cheerleading or frame football and their able bodied siblings and parents also had a try, which was great to see.
“I have had lots of great feedback saying that the team of academics and students were inspiring, insightful and approachable.
"As someone living with Spina Bifida, it was a very proud moment for me as Head of School and I have no doubt that as a team, albeit small, we made a real impact on these families and that was my goal.
"A big thank you to my team for their time, expertise, compassion and professionalism.”