The SEND community in Macclesfield has seen a boost, a new free initiative providing support to kids and their families.

That is because Everybody Health and Leisure, the charity that operates Macclesfield Leisure Centre, has launched an initiative giving away free 'calm bags' to the SEND community.

Lee Malkin, Sports Development Manager at independent charity Everybody Health and Leisure, along with colleagues Andy Molyneux and Nichola Foulkes, has been working with local organisations to remove barriers for families of neurodiverse children or those with SEND. 

The charity operates 17 leisure facilities across the region and has rolled out an initiative across all sites, including Macclesfield Leisure Centre and Alderley Park, to offer Calm Bags containing sensory resources aimed to make accessing their facilities easier.

The goody bag has things like ear defenders and sensory toys.

Has your little one tried them out? (Image - Everybody Health and Leisure)

Andy Molyneux, Disability & Inclusion Lead, said: "At Everybody Health and Leisure we are committed to providing the best experience for all our visitors. We have already received some brilliant feedback from customers who have utilised our calm bags. Parents have been able to use the calm bags to help their SEND or neurodiverse child sit happily in the café while a sibling completes a swimming lesson or other activity, taking the stress out of the situation for the parents and allowing them to enjoy watching their children take part in sports."

One grandmother spoke on how her grand child has benefitted from the free initiative.

"I saw a leisure centre poster on the wall regarding calm bags," she said.

Everybody Health and Leisure, who run Macclesfield Leisure Centre sponsor Macclesfield Nub News. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

"My grandson is nearly 5, autistic, non-verbal and struggles with social settings, noise, background noise, and lights.

"So I was looking after my grandson and I thought I will go in the leisure centre and asked for a calm bag. I went to reception and was handed one straight away and went into the café.

"Fortunately, there weren't too many people in the café.

"The sensory equipment in the bag was brilliant and my grandson was completely settled calm and stimming and was able to be vocal.

"It's really nice that settings are becoming more mindful and recognising additional needs. My grandson's mum and dad rarely go out because there are not many places where they can access equipment to keep my grandson calm.

"So, the calm bags are definitely a way forward to inclusion in the community."

The calm bags were delivered with the help - and inspiration - from Congleton good cause Ruby's.

Everybody Health and Leisure are working with Congleton charity Ruby's, who introduced the Calm Bags to support their own SEND community, and the charities are now working in tandem to support SEND families across Cheshire East and beyond through the calm bags and staff awareness training.

The calm bags are the latest initiative Everybody has put in, to make sport truly accessible to everyone.

As well as having disabled entrances and classes tailored for specific age groups, Everybody also has a variety of membership option to suit you.

Furthermore, Macclesfield Leisure Centre also has caught short lockers providing freely accessible, and free of charge period products to all visitors of the facilities. This has also been a recent focus, for the Homes Chapel-headquartered leisure operator.

According to the House of Commons Library, in January 2024, there were around 1.7 million school pupils in England with identified SEN (18% of all pupils).

Lee and his team are determined to remove barriers to exercise for women and girls.

According to Nuffield Health, more than four in five (84%) teenage girls say their interest in sport and fitness diminished after starting their period and almost one in four (23%) say they feel embarrassed to take part in physical activity during their menstrual cycle. This can have a huge knock-on effect to girls and women's mental and physical health as they grow up.

Nichola Foulkes, creator of the Caught Short Locker concept continued: "We hope that freely available period products will also remove a barrier for girls and young women, who may have abandoned a training session before due to their period.

"An organisation wide culture of openness and support at Everybody has meant that we can implement this across all sites, and we hope to see an effect in exercise uptake for women and girls."

Macclesfield: To join Macclesfield Leisure Centre, please head to THIS LINK.

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