National News

Group discounts available for London 2012 Paralympic Games tickets
Tickets for the London 2012 Paralympic Games went on sale today and there is a special Group Organiser discount available for college, university and youth workers who want to take a group of 20 or more to any of the sports on offer.

If you apply for, and are allocated, 20 tickets or more for a session, you will receive two Group Organiser tickets at no extra charge. For every additional 10 tickets you are allocated, you will receive another full price Group Organiser ticket for free. You can receive a maximum of five Group Organiser tickets.

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or go straight to: www.tickets.london2012.com

KIDS and Mencap holiday childcare survey:

we need your help!

We know that childcare is essential for families with disabled children and young people, to allow parents and carers to work, to give short breaks and to provide opportunities for children and young people to socialise and have fun with their peers.

Some parents have contacted both KIDS and Mencap over the summer holidays to talk about difficulties they have had accessing childcare for their disabled children. This is not OK. We hope that this survey will help us to find out what the picture is nationally for families with disabled children and young people in relation to their access to holiday play and childcare provision, and highlight any challenges that exist. We want families’ stories to be listened to and acted upon, and so once the results are collected, KIDS and Mencap will be producing and publicising a short briefing paper containing the main findings.

This survey contains a maximum of 25 questions, should take 5 -10 minutes to complete and can be accessed via the following methods:

• Web link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2011summerchildcare
• Paper survey that we can send in the post.
• Telephone interview. Please call 0207 359 3073 and ask to speak to Anna Route.

 Please complete the survey by October 7^th

If you have any questions, please contact Anna on 0207 359 3073 or coe@kids.org.uk

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Talent ID Day for Down Syndrome Athletes 

City of Salisbury track, Five Rivers Leisure Centre, Salisbury, Wiltshire. 

Saturday 24^th September 12pm – 4pm. 

All track & field events will be available and the idea will be to put athletes through a series of tests to see who could be considered for training with the Great Britain Squad.   I have attached their entry standards so that you all can see who might be eligible.  If you have an athlete who is very close to meeting their criteria then do please bring them along as well.

Any athlete you bring along must be Down Syndrome.  You will if selected be asked to provide evidence as laid out in the International Athletics Association for Down Syndrome (IAADS)

Salisbury has been chosen for this first venue as the Club has very generously offered to cover the whole cost of the track for us so there will not be fee charged to athletes attending.  The venue has the added advantage of being on the site of a leisure centre so there are all the necessary amenities.  For those coming by train, it is either a very short taxi ride or a leisurely 15 minute walk to the track. Salisbury itself is an easy walk for parents who might wish to do some sight-seeing or shopping whilst their offspring attends the training and assessment.  Directions to the track can be found on the City of Salisbury ARC website.

I would be most grateful if Clubs would email as soon as is possible me to let me know if they have athletes they wish to bring along. It would also be especially useful if local clubs would contact the Special Needs schools in their area as they may well have children they think would like to try out.

Please feel to contact me if you have any queries. My contact phone number is 07717 362616 or diane.dart@dsiso.org

Click here for full details

Click here for standards