Sportspark reopens as day-care centre for NHS workers’ children
By: News Archive
The challenge of remaining both physically active and socially distant during the coronavirus pandemic has been solved for children of local NHS staff, with UEA Sportspark reopening as a day-care facility to support and acknowledge dedicated frontline health workers.
The venue has reopened its doors to offer an extended hours service – between 8am-8pm from Monday to Friday – which schools are currently not able to offer, with the added bonus for children of being able to make use of the Sportspark’s award-winning facilities while they are looked after.
Places are available to book for key workers from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals (NNUH) NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and Norfolk Community Health and Care (NCHC) NHS Trust with children aged between five and 15 years old.
Parents are asked to call or email ahead to book a place on a particular day and they can then drop-off and pick up their children at their own convenience between the times above via the main reception of the building.
The initiative has been set up by UEA Health and Social Care Partners (HSCP), who have developed the relationships between the University, with NHS trusts are accessing COVID-19 emergency funds to ensure that parents are able to use the service free of charge.
A number of Sportspark staff members and volunteers have signed up to assist with putting on creative and physical activities that avoid physical contact and adhere to the government’s social distancing guidelines. Children are put into groups at the start of the day with a different schedule for each group, with physical activities taking place in the morning and afternoon and craft in the evening.
Physical activities put on include: tennis; badminton; athletics; table tennis; new age Kurling; foot golf; boccia; dodgeball; hockey drills and party games. Part of the craft element has been filling in a colouring sheet, with the design combining the familiar rainbow in celebration of the NHS with the Sportspark's running track (please see below for photos of children holding this up, and an image of the sheet for children to fill in which is available for reuse).
Children who attend also receive a healthy packed lunch as part of the day, courtesy of UEA Campus Kitchen, and are given information to educate them on what they can do to minimise the potential risk of spreading coronavirus.
Phil Steele, Director of Sport and Commercial Services at UEA, said: “Right now we’re all deeply indebted to our colleagues in the NHS for providing such a fantastic and essential service to keep us safe and healthy. With a spacious, multi-purpose community facility at our disposal, it seemed obvious that we should put this to good use as a way of giving something back to them.
“We’ll continue to make the venue available for this for as long as we need to and there are still a number of places available so please do get in touch if you can make use of the facility.”
Adam Garford, Head of Sport and Physical Activity Development at UEA Sportspark, said: “We want to be able to provide a programme that keeps the children active and entertained at a challenging time for them, while still prioritising the need to keep them socially distant and educate them on why this is important.
“So far the children seem to have really enjoyed themselves and been able to take part in a number of sports and activities they hadn’t tried before – and we’ve had a lot of grateful parents too. I’d like to thank all the members of staff and volunteers who have helped to get this off the ground and hopefully the programme will continue to grow until we’re able to return to normal.”
The University is looking to work with other NHS and social care organisations over the coming weeks to offer this provision to their staff. Any trusts interested should contact ueahscp@uea.ac.uk.
If you a key worker interested in using the service at the Sportspark for your children, contact ueahscp@uea.ac.uk. Please note that the Sportspark remains closed for all other activities.
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