THE 2011 Aviva Ability Counts Week finished on a high with Grant Holt's special goal celebration against Preston North End.
Day Six - Saturday, March 5
Matchday activities at Carrow Park and Carrow Road
A matchday at Carrow Road saw the end of a week-long schedule of events showcasing the partnership between Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF), Norwich City Football Club and Aviva in providing opportunities, facilities and services for disabled people and football fans in the county.
And Grant Holt's celebration of his 62nd minute equaliser against Preston ended the initiative in style and made it extra special for someone firmly invoved in the Aviva Ability Counts Programme.
Jamie Abbott is a member of the CSF Downs Syndrome football team and met Grant during the striker's visit to Aviva earlier in the Ability Counts Week.
Speaking after City's match with Preston to Canaries Player, Grant explained: "We were at Aviva during the week and one of the lads who was there Jamie - he was at the game today. He said if I scored I had to do the celebration and it's in dedication of him really. I said I'd do it so hopefully he's happy!"
Jamie, who also turned 14 on March 5, had joined his team-mates earlier in the day at CSF's Carrow Park where the brand new Downs Syndrome specific football team did some training before going across to see the first team in action agaist Preston at Carrow Road.
CSF also entertained their respite care course, which gives parents and carers of children with disabilities a break, by looking after the children for the day getting them involved in multi-sports sessions and then taking them to a Norwich City game at Carrow Road.
Norwich City Football Club Chief Executive David McNally visited Carrow Park to see what was going on and to meet the parents and participants of the Downs Syndrome group.
Laurence York, CSF Disability Development Officer commented: "It is great to see him get involved as much as he does and show an interest in the activities that we have running. It really shows how strong the relationship that Norwich City FC and Norwich City Community Sports Foundation has. I feel very proud of this week and hopefully we have raised the awareness of what there is out there for disabled people in Norfolk."
Before the game the Downs Syndrome team were given the opportunity to create a guard of honour for the first team as they stepped on to the pitch to kick off the fixture. This was a fantastic opportunity for the guys to see their heros close up and give them a final cheer of encouragement before the game.
Paul Abbott father of Jamie added: "This has been a fantastic end to a what has been a really enjoyable week. Myself and Jamie have been involved with the Aviva staff visits and obviously today. We both feel honoured and privileged to be creating the guard of honour. Jamie gets so much from being involved with the Community Sports Foundation and the way he is looked after by the staff at the Football Club is outstanding.
"Jamie met his hero Grant Holt earlier this week and requested that he did his special celebration. So fingers crossed he nets today as that will be a fitting end to what has been an extremely heart warming week."
City's Soccer Sight commentators were also on hand ahead of the game to give demonstrations of the service, which relays live match commentary around the stadium specifically detailed for blind or partially sighted supporters.
Members of the Disabled Supporters Working Group (DSWG) also conducted a satisfaction survey in the Aviva Ability Counts where many of the Club's disabled supporters watch the game at Carrow Road.
The DSWG also wished to thank main Club sponsors Aviva for their support in providing a display cabinet and information board in the entrance area of the Aviva Ability Counts Gallery.
The group hopes that the facility will provide an information point to promote health awareness and organisations offering support in the community. Contributions of artwork, photographs and items of general interest will be welcome for display in the cabinet. In the first instance please email Stephen Graham, Disability Liaison Officer at stephen.graham@ncfc-canaries.co.uk for further information.
Day Five - Friday, March 4
Colney visits
Today saw two visits to Norwich City Football Club's Colney Training Centre.
Firstly members of the Disabled Supporters Working Group (DSWG) with friends and colleagues watched the first team train ahead of their npower Championship game with Preston North End.
Then in the afternoon the Assist Trust, who work with people with learning difficulties, were invited in for a behind the scenes tour of the training ground, as well taking part in a training session led by the experienced NCFC Academy coaching team. After this they all sat down and had a meal cooked by the catering team at the facility.
The highlight of the day was Norwich City manager Paul Lambert popping in to meet them to sign autographs and have pictures taken.
Kim Larke, Assist Trust Team Leader commented: "This has been a fantastic opportunity for the guys to take a sneak peak at where their beloved Norwich City train on a daily basis. To most of our users this will be something they will look back on for years to come.
"I would like to thank Norwich City Football Club, AVIVA and Norwich City Community Sports Foundation, for not only this experience but the hard work they put in to make a difference not only to our users lives but the wider community of Norfolk."
Day Four - Thursday, March 3
Aviva Staff Visit (Horizon)
The Aviva Ability Counts Week is all about engaging people and educating them on what the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation and the Football Club has to offer for disabled sports people and supporters.
Aviva have been supporting the programme since 2005 and to highlight the difference it makes to peoples lives, the Aviva Ability Counts team today visited Aviva's Broadland Business Park office to spread the word to the 6,500 staff that work there.
The staff took part in an informative quiz where they had the chance to win a NCFC shirt signed by Grant Holt and Adam Drury. There was also a chance for them to sign up for volunteering opportunities and information on how to get involved within the programme. They also met Sportasaurus the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation mascot who was accompanied by the sponsorship team Danny Nobbs, also a CSF Ambassador and Senior Sponsorship Manager Chris Elliot.
Laurence York CSF Disability Development Officer commented on the day: "The offices here at Broadland Business Park have a huge number of employees, all from different social backgrounds and walks of life, so this was a great chance for us to speak to as many of them as possible."
"The staff were intrigued about what the programme had to offer, we spoke to a variety of people including parents of children who have disabilities, on how they can get them involved, as well as people who are interested in supporting the programme on a volunteer basis. I am very happy with how this week is going. It is extremely heart warming to see how people really care about what we are trying to achieve and are willing to help us get our message across."
Day Three - Wednesday, March 2
Aviva Ability Counts College Tournament
Today saw Community Sports Foundation host the third Aviva Ability Counts College Tournament. The event involved five of Norfolk's Colleges and saw around 80 pupils aged 16 to 19 with varying disabilities take part. They were all competing to be crowned Aviva Ability Counts College Champions.
The purpose of this event is to allow players that attend local colleges, who have a disability, to play competitive football against players of a similar age and ability. The tournament is split into two leagues - SLD (Severe Learning Disabilities) and MLD (Moderate Learning Disabilities), by doing this we are able to ensure the players are playing in the correct ability band and therefore hopefully increasing the participation, self-confidence and physical fitness of those involved.
The day was supported by Aviva, with the presence of the sponsorship team and four staff members who are based at their Horizon offices. These four guys gave up their own time to help the running of the tournament, by assisting CSF coaches in refereeing the fixtures.
Ian Thornton, CSF Director commented: "It was really pleasing to see so many local college students taking part in a structured yet competitive opportunuty. The Aviva Ability Counts Programme aims to engage as many people with disabilities as possible and events such as this provide an important service for Foundation Education colleges around Norfolk."
"Getting the Aviva employees stuck in right at the grass roots level is excellent. It not only educates them on how the programme operates, but really reinforces the strong partnership that Aviva, Norwich City Football Club and Norwich City Community Sports Foundation have created."
Watch this space for more news about the Aviva Ability Counts Awareness week.
Pictured with CSF Sportasaurus is Aviva Senior Sponsorship Manager Chris Elliot with four of his Aviva volunteers.
Day Two - Tuesday, March 1
Aviva Staff Visit
Today CSF visited the Aviva offices on Surrey Street, Norwich to speak to staff about how their colleagues in the Aviva Sponsorship team support the Ability Counts programme.
The highlight of the day was Norwich City stars Grant Holt and Adam Drury coming along to show their support of Aviva Ability Counts, meeting the staff and signing autographs. Paul Abbott, who is a volunteer within the programme and his son Jamie Abbott, who is one of the stars of the new CSF Downs Syndrome Football Team, also came along to help the running of the day (pictured).
Commenting on the day CSF Disability Development Officer Laurence York said, "The day was a huge success. We managed to spread the word about the Ability Counts programme, speak to AVIVA staff about volunteering opportunities and introduce Adam and Grant to the staff."
Tomorrow will see several colleges take part in the AVIVA Ability Counts Special Needs College Tournament at Carrow Park. There will be volunteers from AVIVA giving up their time to help the running of the event.
Day One - Monday, February 28
Future Radio and multi-sports session at Harford Manor School
Aviva Ability Counts Week kicked off with Norwich community station Future Radio broadcasting live from Carrow Road. Several people from the Club were interviewed including City Chief Executive David McNally, CSF Director Ian Thornton and Disability Development Officer Laurence York talking about the Aviva Ability Counts programme, as well as the Football Club in general.
After his appearance on the radio Laurence visited Harford Manor School to give a multi-sports session to the pupils. CSF Ambassador and former Norwich City striker Iwan Roberts and mascot Sportasaurus were there to help inspire the participants at the school and join in the session.
About Aviva Ability Counts Week 2011
The aim of the week is to raise awareness of the Aviva Ability Counts programme and the great work it does with people with a wide range of disabilities living in our community. The programme offers enriching sporting and educational opportunities for people with disabilities, many of these highlighted in the awareness week programme.
It is also an opportunity to highlight the facilities and services available to supporters attending matches at Carrow Road and also the existence of the Disabled Supporters Working Group who meet regularly with the Club to help improve the matchday experience for disabled fans.
During the week the CSF Ability Counts team and Aviva and will be running events such as multi-sports sessions and disability soccer centres but the highlight of the week is the College Grand Prix League that sees 12 teams from across the county, represented by people with various learning disabilities, who will take to the field for a five-a-side football tournament.
CSF Disability Development Officer Laurence York said: "This week is extremely important, as it raises the profile and awareness of the Aviva Ability Counts programme. I look forward to this event every year as we get to show the public what outstanding work our staff are doing and also we get to showcase some of our shining stars who participate or volunteer within the programme."
As Ability Counts sponsors, Aviva will be supporting the week at five different events. This will include a number of their staff volunteering to help run the College Grand Prix football tournament at Carrow Park.
Chris Elliott, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Aviva, said: "Our support for the Ability Counts programme is an important part of Aviva's relationship with the Community Sports Foundation and Norwich City. It's one of the ways that we use our sponsorship to make a positive difference to people in Norfolk. I'm pleased that we have put together a range of opportunities for our staff to learn more about this and that many of them have chosen to give up their own time to run the events."
Also during the week Canary stars Grant Holt and Adam Drury and Norwich City Council Volunteer of the Year Paul Abbott and his son Jamie Abbott - who is a regular participant within the programme - are backing the event by meeting staff from Aviva at their Surrey Street office to improve their understanding of the Ability Counts Programme.
Local community station Future Radio 107.8 are broadcasting from Carrow Road between 10am and 1pm on Monday, talking to organisers about the week, and students and charity representatives are also visiting the Club to look round the stadium facilities.
The week comes to an end with two of CSF's disability groups training at Carrow Park on Saturday, March 5 before Norwich City take on Preston North End in an npower Championship match at Carrow Road. A guard of honour will be formed for the Norwich City and Preston players before the game by the Downs Syndrome specific football team.
A demonstration of the Soccer Sight commentary service available for blind and partially sighted supporters is also taking place on the Saturday between 2pm and 2.45pm in the Aviva Gallery at Carrow Road.
For more information on Community Sports Foundation's disability programmes please call the CSF office on 01603 761122 or visit www.communitysportsfoundation.org.uk
And for disabled facilities and services at Norwich City Football Club please contact Stephen Graham, Disability Liaison Officer on 01603 760760 Ext: 2255 or email: Stephen.graham@ncfc-canaries.co.uk
