Thomas Black

Thomas Black





My name is Thomas Black and I’m 8 years old.  I am a big fan of Go Kids Go and look forward to going to the courses every year when Roy comes over to Northern Ireland.

I went to my first Go Kids Go course when I was 5 years old.  I was a bit nervous in my chair then and wouldn’t try the back wheel balancing or going down kerbs.  I had great fun though and enjoyed the games, basketball and dancing.  I think my 2 older sisters had as much fun as I did and now they look forward to the courses too.  I have also learnt lots of important stuff like road safety, what to do if I fall in my chair, opening doors and how to use an evacuation chair.

This year was my fourth year going to the Go Kids Go courses and every year I am getting better and better in my chair.  I practice all year and now I am really good at back wheel balancing and like doing cool tricks for my friends. 

As I have to use my wheelchair all of the time it is very important that I learn to use it as best as I can so that I don’t need to have other people pushing me all of the time and I can join in with my friends more often.
I love going to the cinema (especially to see Superhero films) and I go to clubs in my church.  I have started to play basketball every week with the Knights Junior Wheelchair Basketball Club in Antrim and lots of the skills I learned from Roy have really helped me playing basketball.
I look forward to Go Kids Go coming to Northern Ireland every year and cant wait for the next course.

 Isaac Towers

I am 16 years old and I have cerebral palsy. This means that my muscles don’t work too well in my legs. I can walk about a bit but for long distances I use my wheelchair.

I have been on lots of Go Kids Go! courses, all over the North West of England. They are great at teaching you how to do things with your wheelchair and want to make you more independent so that you can go where you want to go and not where someone else wants to push you to!

The day courses set off with everyone getting in a chair, including mums, dads and brothers and sisters. We have a game of British Bulldogs to warm up and I’m usually the winner because Roy has taught me so well!


We then do back wheel balancing when you are taught to balance on your back wheels. This is a bit scary at first, but really good once you get the hang of it! You need to be able to balance on your back wheels to be able to get up kerbs and over holes in the pavements! We then do some road safety with a pretend road, kerb and speeding cars that if you don’t look out for them will run you over!!

We have a packed lunch then play basketball and wheelchair dancing as well as being shown how to get out of buildings in an emergency.

 

Go Kids Go!  is a really little charity and I have learnt lots from the courses. My friends think I am cool when I show off my skills! I have helped the charity by encouraging local groups to donate money to them. I’ve helped raise over £5000 for them so far so that lots of other kids like you can go on the courses. Come along to the next one in your area and find out more……    

Become a Champion

Isaac making a speech at a garden party to raise money for Go Kids Go! 

 

 

 

Our Champions

 

Chloe Smith


Chloe

My name is Chloe Smith and I’m 16. I have a type of Cerebral Palsy called Quadriplegia in all four of my limbs. I can walk but not for very long, so I usually use an electric or manual wheelchair to get around. Because my arms are affected using a manual wheelchair is difficult, but Go Kids Go! have helped me to become more confident with my manual wheelchair skills. I been to lots of workshops in the West Midlands, and they were all invaluable experiences! They’ve not only helped me improve my practical skills, like how to climb a kerb or get out of a fallen chair - but I can even do a wheelie! They’ve taught me so many skills and I’m so thankful. I even met my hero, Ade Adepitan at Naidex thanks to them! They’ve even come in to my school to teach my school-mates what it’s like to be in a wheelchair. It was amazing!

I’d recommend Go Kids Go! workshops to anyone. If you’re a wheelchair user, they teach you so many things and you meet so many great new people. Family members benefit too, because they get to see what being in a wheelchair is like! Without Go Kids Go!, I honestly wouldn’t be as confident in my wheelchair as I am now. I’m now a 10m air rifle shooter and use lots of the skills I’ve learnt at workshops every day! Everyone who uses a wheelchair or has a wheelchair user in their family needs to take part in one, because you learn so much! They’re so much fun, too! I love playing British Bulldog and Wheelchair Basketball at the workshops. I’m honoured to be a Champion because I want to get Go Kids Go! as much publicity and fundraising as possible. I can’t wait to start!

 

 

Kizzy Blue Wade

 

Hi my name is Kizzy Blue Wade and I am 9years old, I am a full time wheelchair user due to having quadriplegic cerebral palsy. When I was younger I started out using a powered wheelchair but soon wanted to try a self propelled wheelchair, mainly because I really wanted to try wheelchair basketball. My parents arranged for me to try out a manual chair and after seeing I could manage to propel it independently (though very slowly) they ordered me one. This was the start of my relationship with go kids go and also with wheelchair sports. On my first wheelchair skills course I was without doubt the slowest person there but that didn't faze me or Roy Wild who was taking the course. Instead he took the time to show me how to use my chair properly and even correcting some bad habits I had developed, this may sound like a lot of hard work but believe me it wasn't, everything was done through activities and games. I especially loved bulldog and basketball. We also learnt important parts of life like road safety, and what to do if you fall out of your wheelchair, which we soon realised has happened to most wheelchair users at some point. I also tried out the evacuation chair which although a little scary to start with was actually fine and even a little fun. The other great part of the day was that my parents also spent the day in wheelchairs and so for the first time they understood what I was going through and the problems I was facing day to day, they was very surprised at how physical using a wheelchair is and that it's not as easy as it looks. I also met some great people on the first course who have become very good friends since. Since the first training day I have completed several more and each time I learn new tips and skills and have slowly but surely got stronger and faster, and this has then helped me to start training with sports clubs. I now train at wheelchair basketball, wheelchair racing, powerchair football and swimming and can honestly say these courses have helped immensely. They have also helped me to gain independence and confidence in my wheelchair skills and disability, I now feel proud of who I am. I could not recommend these training days more, I look forward to each and every one and are so proud to be helping to spread the word of the great work this charity does.