Mixed Ability Week Cork 2020

This project will organise the first-ever Mixed Ability Week (MAW20) in Cork (Ireland) between the 7-12 June 2020. Mixed Ability sport promotes social inclusion by integrating disabled and non-disabled players in the same mainstream game. The event was promted by and builds on the success of two previous rugby tournaments but expands the template beyond rugby and beyond sport to include an international conference and four participatory educational workshops. The latter will be co-designed with disabled trainers and will promote knowledge sharing among participants, coaches, clubs and national governing bodies. In addition, Mixed Ability taster sessions and competitions in rowing, boxing, kin ball and running will be held, with the opportunity for the wider population to take part in many sporting and social activities to raise awareness and celebrate diversity and promote social inclusion through sport. All of this alongside an international rugby tournament (IMART 2020). MAW20 will attract 1000+ participants over the week. The event will be hosted by Sunday’s Well Rugby Football Club, a well established community rugby club in Cork, along with a host of relevant and high profile support organisations such as International Mixed Ability Sports, Cork City Council and the IRFU as well as international researchers from academia. The event embodies innovation through its participatory approach, focus on Mixed Ability sport, integration of bottom-up and top-down elements and combination of activities all promoted through the #BetterTogether social media campaign and travelling photographic exhibition. The project will have significant direct positive impacts for all those involved as well as indirectly through shifting societal perceptions around dis/ability and social inclusion. The project will provide a lasting legacy for other grassroots clubs to organise future participatory and community-led events through the creation of a Transferability Toolkit.