Launched in November 2017.
Our project delivers a holistic approach on the structured swimming group sessions to identified primary and secondary school children at Forres Swimming Pool during school term, during and outside of school hours. Through our working partnership with Active School Moray (Forres ASG), identified children matching our criteria of disability, condition and behavioural issues are referred by each school, and consent obtained through a parent, carer or guardian. As all sessions are person centred, we continue to monitor and evaluate each child’s progress, which is fed back to the child, parent/carer and school. Our swim/surf athletes have disabilities and conditions which include;
- Hemiplegia
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Anxiety
- Autism
- Speech & Language Disorders
- Balance/Co-ordination Disorders
- Dyslexia
- Behavioural Issues
- Cerebral Palsy
- Global Developmental Delay
- Learning Disabilities
- Meltdowns & Shutdowns
Through support of the Berry Burn Community Fund, our collaborative partnership with Active Schools and Forres Swimming Pool, we are providing secured pool time on an ongoing basis. Friendly Access specialises in working with children with assisted learning needs and these inclusive structured swimming lessons are for all abilities and all ages. These are alternated with sessions are on surf boards providing a great form of exercise working on balance and coordination to give an extra sense of fun that really keeps participants engaged. The plan is that familiarity with the equipment and skills learnt in the pool will get the kids ready for trying surfing in the sea and these sessions will hopefully lead to extracurricular sessions in the longer term.
