Last week I was invited to attend and film Salisbury FC Walking Football’s visit to Headway’s Headsmart session in Wilton. We arrived to a warm welcome as I set up some kit to capture the event. It was great to see everyone join in and they all had smiles on their faces as they played a surprisingly competitive game of walking football.
Sarah Allen from Headway, who also joined in with the football said the following…
At our weekly Headsmart Group for adults who have sustained an acquired brain injury, we like to offer a variety of activities that encourage social, physical and cognitive rehabilitation. Individuals can become very isolated following a brain injury so there’s a real benefit in introducing community-based activities in a familiar group setting as a stepping stone to accessing the activity outside the Headsmart Group.
We were very fortunate to have Mark, Steve and David join us last week for an introduction to walking football. Starting off with some warm-up exercises and finishing with a game. The session was great fun, there was lots of laughter and more than a hint of competitive nature. The group from Salisbury Walking Football were great at adapting activities to ensure everyone was able to participate. We all got our heart rates up but also there was plenty of opportunity for practising lots of skills that can be impacted following brain injury such as communication, planning, turn-taking and problem-solving. We are really grateful for this introduction to walking football and some group members have shown an interest in going along to some of the community sessions run by Salisbury FC Walking Football.
Sarah Allen Headway Service Manager
Mark Potts has been playing at Salisbury FC Walking Football for many years now and took control of the session. He said…
It was great to introduce the walking version of the “beautiful game” to the members and volunteers of the Headsmart Group in Wilton. It was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces as they participated so enthusiastically. I do hope that some of them will be able to attend our regular sessions at Five Rivers.
Mark Potts, Salisbury FC Walking Footballer
To find out more about Headway visit headway.org.uk
To find out more about Salisbury FC Walking Football visit salisburyfc.co.uk/swf
