A lot has been happening in the North West over the past few months:

We delivered taster sessions at a Guide Dogs Fun Day at their training centre in Atherton and also at a Sports Day in St Helens that was organised by Action for Blind People. This was attended by over 50 visually impaired young people!

Working with Jan Quinn, who co-ordinates the Children and Young People’s Project at Sight Advice South Lakes, we also delivered a session to VI pupils at Stramongate Primary School in Kendal. As the project is funded by Children in Need, a camera crew from the BBC came along to film the session, with the end result due to be televised later this month.dscf1011

On the club front, Lancashire Lions have made a strong start to the new season with their teams picking up bronze medals at both the Scarborough Intermediate tournament and the Sheffield Novice tournament. It was also good to see the Greater Manchester VI Bees return to competitive action. Plans are currently being made for the first ever ‘War of the Roses’ which will see a combined Lancashire team head across the Pennines to take on a combined Yorkshire team!

Congratulations to Lancashire Lions coach Paul Miller who was acknowledged by Sports Coach UK as an ‘Everyday Hero‘ and player Arslan Sabir who was nominated as the Disabled Sports Achiever of the Year at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards. Together with 7 team mates from the Lancashire Lions, Arslan attended a Goalball Leaders course in October so is now also a qualified coach.

Finally, working with key partners in Merseyside, we are hoping to launch a new club in Liverpool. An initial taster session is being held on Tuesday 22nd November from 7pm to 8.30pm at Greenbank Sports Academy. Discussions are also ongoing with Manchester Metropolitan University about launching a new club there.