Paralympic Medallist Brings Joy of Table Tennis to Social Care
Community Integrated Care welcomed Paralympic table tennis medallist Jack Hunter Spivey to its head office on Thursday 23rd April to mark World Table Tennis Day, delivering an inclusive and inspiring event focused on health, wellbeing and accessible sport.
The interactive session, delivered in support of World Table Tennis Day and funded by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Foundation, brought together people who access care and support, alongside colleagues from across the charity, to experience the joy and wellbeing benefits of table tennis in a fully accessible way.
Community Integrated Care hosted the event after being selected by the ITTF Foundation as an official ‘Promoter’ of World Table Tennis Day. This prestigious recognition celebrated the charity’s acclaimed work to innovatively enable the wellbeing benefits of table tennis in social care.
Jack Hunter Spivey – who won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and bronze at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – led an inclusive introduction to the sport, sharing his personal journey and demonstrating how table tennis can be adapted to suit people of all abilities.
The event also built on Community Integrated Care’s free ‘Care to Play’ training programme, www.CareToPlay.co.uk, which equips people who provide care and support with the skills, confidence and knowledge to promote table tennis in any social care setting.
To keep the momentum going beyond World Table Tennis Day, everyone who attended received a free table tennis kit and was invited to make a personal pledge about how they will continue using table tennis to support health and wellbeing in their own homes.
Jack Hunter-Spivey said, “It was incredible to highlight this fantastic sport to colleagues and people supported by such a brilliant charity. It’s a privilege to work with them. It was an amazing day, everyone really enjoyed it and hopefully we’ve inspired even more people to get involved with table tennis and enjoy the many benefits it brings.”
Luke Parry, Senior Programmes and Partnerships Development Manager at Community Integrated Care, said, “World Table Tennis Day is a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on how accessible sport can transform lives. Working alongside the International Table Tennis Federation Foundation, we are proud to show how table tennis can be adapted to support health, wellbeing and inclusion for everyone.”
“Having Jack with us was truly inspiring and reflects our commitment to ensuring people who draw on care and support have equal opportunities to stay active, connected and confident. We’d like to say a big thank you to Jack for joining us and to the ITTF for supporting us to bring the joy of table tennis to social care.”
