Central Bedfordshire Council: Silsoe Superstars presented with Bedfordshire Games award
Date Added: 22/07/2022
Team awarded the ‘Team That Empowers Others’ trophy
A team of adults who attend Silsoe Horticultural Centre were presented with an award today after taking part in the Bedfordshire Games.
The ‘Silsoe Superstars’ were awarded the ‘Team That Empowers Others’ trophy, which is awarded at the Games each year. They were chosen due to their support for other competitors on the day, the sheer number of high fives given out to others, and as a result of their brightly coloured team t-shirts, featuring a sunflower to show the team’s ‘sunny outlook’.
They were presented with their award by Dympna Causby, who founded the Bedfordshire Games in 1989.
Teams from 16 organisations across Bedfordshire who support people with learning disabilities came together on 5 July to compete in the Bedfordshire Games, held at Bedford Athletics Stadium. There were a wide range of track and field events, including walking, dashing, assisted walking and wheelchair events, and softball, discus, turbo javelin and long jump.
One of the Silsoe Superstars, Charlie, told staff he didn’t think he would be able to join in with the games as he is in a wheelchair. He was thrilled to come in second place and win a medal!
The Council’s Online Day Activities Team also attended and were able to live stream the events for customers who couldn’t make it in person.
The team were originally introduced during the pandemic when social distancing measures were introduced, and Day Centres were forced to temporarily close. They were able to provide online sessions, including talks, quizzes and ‘bake along’ sessions, to ensure those who would normally have attended day centres in person were still able to take part in activities and see friends, albeit on a screen.
Olive and Sarah are two of the people who attend the online sessions, who got to meet the Online Day Activities Team face-to-face for the first time in two years. Olive told the team that: “…throughout Covid you were our lifeline and we wouldn’t have known what to do without you.”
Silsoe Horticultural Centre is set on a three-acre site, where people with learning disabilities can get involved in planting, growing and harvesting produce, and making preserves like chutneys and jams from the produce they grow.