The Club - Vol.4 - Magazine - Page 22
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Family Fun Sports Day at
West Bromwich Albion Football Club
on Friday 25th August 2023
Guide Dogs family events team had
a fantastic day at The Hawthorns on
25th August running a Family Fun
Sports Day. We were delighted to
invite 12 families to the jam-packed
day, which included 28 children in
total and 12 of these had a vision
impairment.
The day started at 10am in the Millichip
Suite, our private function space within The
Hawthorns Stadium for the day! Our families
were invited to join us for a hot and cold
refreshment before the activities began. Our
昀椀rst guest speaker, Dave Heeley (also known
as Blind Dave) who works as an ambassador
for the Albion Foundation started the day by
providing an inspiring speech to our families,
all about the impact sport had on his journey
in life. Our families were then split into two
groups to take part in the stadium tour and the
practical activities.
20
The sta昀昀 at the Hawthorns worked really hard
to ensure the stadium tour was as accessible
as possible for our families, with an amended
route being taken to include everyone. The
tour included the hospitality boxes, along
pitch side to the dug outs and through into
the players tunnel where the changing rooms,
physiotherapy room and managers suite
could be accessed. Families even had the
opportunity to make their way up to the Media
Suite, where the managers would always
congregate at the end of the matches to
speak to the press.
The practical activities were run by The Albion
Foundation and supported by our local Guide
Dogs habilitation team. Our families had
chance to experience Blind Football, Goalball
and Curling. The variety in the sporting
activities allowed all our children and young
people to participate the activities they felt
comfortable with. At the end of the session
all children with their parents/guardians were
invited to join in parachute games which was
a fantastic opportunity to mix and enjoy some
time together.
To split the day, both groups joined together
to enjoy a freshly prepared cold bu昀昀et, with a
variety of di昀昀erent options catering to all our
