Hadleigh Park welcomed more than 400 people from across the county to a free,  ‘Be Active Health Day’ organised by Sport For Confidence in association with Essex County Council.

The event, which has the full support of the Essex University Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (EUPT), celebrated the many opportunities Hadleigh Park has to offer individuals which a range of abilities including learning and mental health issues, dementia, autism and Down’s syndrome.

Lyndsey Barrett, Senior Occupational Therapist and Founder of Sport For Confidence, says: “According to Mencap (2016), only 17 per cent of people aged 16 and over, with a disability or long-term illness, take part in physical activity at least once a week, this compared to 36.1 per cent of the general population.

“Sport and physical activity has so much to offer everybody and a cross-sector, whole-system approach is needed if we are to deliver the wide reaching positive outcomes achieved by regular participation to all segments of our community.

"This inaugural Be Active Health Day brought together a range of community health and physical activity providers to promote the many benefits of being active and to encourage people to get involved.”

In addition to visitors taking part in at a diverse array of activities run by Sport For Confidence including; boccia, archery and dodgeball, there were also opportunities to take in some of the amazing cycle routes, thanks to organised rides by Southern Just Rides.

The vent was also attended by Outspoken Cycles which offered the chance to use the energy generated by pedalling a stationary bike to power a blender and make a smoothie.

Supporting the activities were a number of stalls provided and manned by local health care organisations.

EPUT offered free blood pressure checks and advice on healthy eating and gave access to Speech and Language therapists, whilst Community Dental Services CIC provided advice on oral hygiene.

The on-site café run by The Salvation Army was open throughout the event providing much needed food and refreshments and Hadleigh Park encouraged visitors to explore its grounds to fully  experience all that the park has to offer.

Lyndsey adds: “The day surpassed all expectations. We hoped for 100 visitors and attracted four times that number, including 80 students from SEEVIC College. The attendance highlights the fact that there is a real appetite in the county for more awareness days like this.

“We couldn’t have delivered such a successful day without the full support of the various community health teams involved so I extend my thanks to everybody who made a contribution. I would also like to give a special thank you to the four Active Essex, All Together Ambassadors; Donna Robinson, Billy Mansell, Lee Patmore and Richard Naylor-Jones, who volunteered their time to help ensure the smooth running of the day.”

Following the success of this event, Sport For Confidence hopes to run similar events in other parts of Essex, giving as many people as possible the chance to access the array of physical activity and health care support services the county has to offer.

To find out more about Sport For Confidence and how to access its services, visit sportforconfidence.com