This week, as part of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, two Team England stars led an inclusive session for students from The Hive College in Birmingham.

Seven students, all with Cerebral Palsy, were given an opportunity to be introduced to sports by Team England’s Jade Jones-Hall and Callum Hall at Stechford Leisure Centre. 

Jones-Hall won two medals for Team England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a gold in para-triathlon and bronze in the T54 marathon with her husband Callum Hall finishing seventh in the men’s T54 marathon. 

The pair, who are now based in Yorkshire, visited Stechford Leisure Centre to lead two sessions for the students, introducing them to ways of engaging with sport through the centre’s inclusive equipment in both the gym and swimming pool. 


Following the session, Jones-Hall said:

“Thank you to all of the participants who turned up for the session at Stechford Leisure Centre, we hope they enjoyed it. Callum and I both enjoyed introducing them to swimming and gym exercises and are delighted to see all of this inclusive sporting equipment available in Birmingham ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.”

Andy Taylor, Birmingham Leisure Trust’s Aquatics Manager said:

“The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games seem a long way off, but at BCLT we’re doing all we can to encourage the next generation of Callums and Jades by offering welcoming, inclusive facilities, which can be accessed by all sectors of the community.”

The Birmingham Leisure Trust’s nine centres all have accessible kit and facilities, but Stechford was chosen for these sessions as it features such a wide range of equipment to ensure disabled people get the most out of their sports and leisure time. 

In the centre’s pool, they’ve got a Pool Hoist allowing for easier access, plus various buoyancy aids to suit swimmers of differing abilities. In the gym, they have a Recline Bike, plus numerous pieces of Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) equipment. For fitness kit to be awarded IFI accreditation, it needs to have been designed to be fully accessible.