Chance 2 Meet Lincolnshire have been awarded a £2,531 grant from Sport England's Together Fund. Chance 2 Meet Lincolnshire provided by BID services, support children and young people in Lincolnshire with sensory impairments to come together, with their families and engage in accessible, inclusive activities that create quality family time and strengthen their inter and intra family relationships creating a supportive network.

The Together Fund investment will enable BID to build a physical activity offer into their existing programme. They will develop a Bowling Champions Challenge to help to re-energise the Chance to Meet(C2M) bowling leagues. Pre-covid C2M developed regular monthly bowling leagues at Grantham, Lincoln and Boston in response to family requests for an activity that children with sensory impairments and their siblings could participate in together.

The 6-month Bowling Champions Challenge will help to bring families back into the local C2M bowling leagues at the venues in Grantham, Boston and Lincoln. Each month families in the C2M programme will be able to meet to enjoy being active together and building friendships. In the third month of the project, there will be a friendly competition across the 3 different bowling centres. In the last month of the project, there will be a “champions” bowling event where all the C2M league groups can meet and challenge each other at one of the bowling venues.

This funding will pay C2M member families to bowl once a month for a six-month period.

Activities like this help C2M members develop social skills and sense of belonging, creating a safe space in which to be themselves, without fear of judgement and where they can communicate freely using their preferred techniques, building communication skills and confidence. Access to regular activities and social opportunities also improves physical & mental health, reducing the risk of isolation, anxiety and depression, whilst developing independence, choice making and life skills.
Chance to Meet Lincolnshire

Outcomes of the project will include:

• To get families with sensory challenges into an active and social environment where they can build confidence and relationships.
• To improve mental health through a group that helps create a sense of belonging, without fear of judgement.
• To reduce the cost barrier for C2M families to participate in family centered activities.
  

Find out more about the funding and successful programmes here.