Joan Dunn is secretary at Sporting Club Rhinos, an organisation that provides all sorts of wheelchair sports. Based in Wolverhampton, they coach everything from taster sessions, right the way up to GB level competitions.

Joan uses a wheelchair because of her progressive type 1 diabetes and arthritis. She has two sports-mad kids, who both represented Wales in the 2013 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup.

Joan was formerly employed as a banking underwriter, but on receiving her son, Josh’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy, she decided to investigate complementary medicine. Joan is now qualified in classical homeopathy, has trained in bio-mechanics, massage, aromatherapy and reflexology, and has a degree in Public Health. Joan manages two of the Rhino wheelchair basketball squads, and is a qualified level 1 wheelchair basketball coach.

Dodgy Disabled Changing Rooms and Representing Paralympics GB

In this interview, Joan talks about the benefits of Paralympic sports for young people, progressing to team GB and being told to use a cupboard as a changing room in her local health centre.

Sporting Club Rhinos – More Than a Club

Sporting Club Rhinos have coached Paralympic sports for young people in Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas for 14 years. Their teams compete in all age groups against clubs from around the UK and Europe.

“Our sports are mainly for people physical disabilities and mobility issues. We also do things like boccia, which is a type of indoor bowls for people with more profound physical disabilities, and pan-disability games, which are sports that everyone can get involved with.

“Our most popular sports are wheelchair basketball, tennis and rugby league.”

One of the Club’s Super League Teams

The club offer its members more than just an opportunity to play sport, says Joan.

“Rhinos is more than just a sports club – it’s a whole support network. We help the kids by providing physiotherapy and counselling, and signpost them towards getting help with benefits or housing applications. We do the lot.”

Get Kids into Sport and Watch them Grow

Joan isn’t the only member of the Dunn household that’s involved with Sporting Club Rhinos. Her Husband, Phil, is chairman, and her two sons, Josh and Jonathan, have played wheelchair sports at the club for several years.

Joan, and the other members of the club, are passionate about getting young kids with disabilities into sport because of what it can do for their confidence.

“Speaking from personal experience, if you have a disability, quite often you can be treated like a second class citizen. You can get ignored when you’re in a wheelchair, and when you’re young it’s really hard when all your fiends are running around and you can’t join in.

“Our aim at Rhinos is to get kids into sport at a young age, because it makes such a difference. You can see them grow in confidence and that becomes mirrored in every other aspect of their lives. Their skills improve, their social lives improve – it’s incredible.”

Joan uses her 19 year old son, Josh, as an example of how sport can help a young person with a disability.

“Josh decided to learn sign language to help with his limited speech, so we’ve been attending weekly classes together. One week I had a fall and couldn’t go, but Josh had the confidence to go on his own. He wouldn’t have been able to do that if it wasn’t for being involved in sport.

“He’s an amazing young man. He passed his driving test first time, he’s studying for a BTEC level two at college at Coleg Cambria, and he is a Paralympic ambassador. He even got to meet the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. He shows people that just because you’re disabled, it doesn’t stop you living your life.”

“Josh has limited speech, due to having vertebral palsy, and quite often he gets treated as though he’s unintelligent. Often people just don’t see the person behind the disability, but what the coaches at Rhinos have done for him is amazing. The way our head coach, Alan Caron, in particular has supported and encouraged him has been incredible.

Is the Paralympic Legacy Falling Short?

Sporting Club Rhinos works with people from junior age groups, right up to highest levels of disabled sport. Countless members of the Paralympics GB team started out at Rhinos, including Jon Hall, Abdi Jama, Jon Pollock, Dan Highcock, Matt Bryne, Kyle Marsh and Mark Fosbrook.

Joan is concerned that while the London 2012 Paralympics increased demand for disabled sports, the necessary facilities aren’t yet available across the UK.

“In general, having the Paralympics in London certainly increased awareness of disabled sports. However, very little has actually been done to move on from that.

“I can’t tell you how many people we’ve had coming into our club in the past three months alone – it’s ridiculous.

“But the facilities people with disabilities need to play sport aren’t always available. Sometimes we have to travel up to 8 hours, just for a forty minute game, because accessible sports facilities are few and far between.”

Told to get changed in a Cupboard under the Stairs

Joan’s feels UK leisure centres are not doing enough for disabled visitors, particularly when it comes to changing rooms.

“Sports centres often don’t have a bespoke changing area, with a grab rail, special shower and so on. When they do, it’s always within the men or women’s changing rooms. So if a person with a disability wants help getting changed, it has to be from someone of the same sex. That can make things really difficult for families, but people don’t seem to realise.”

Joan has experienced all sorts of problems at sports centres over the years.

“Often the grab rails aren’t secure or the room is quite dank. The light in a disabled changing room at a centre near us was broken for over six months and no one bothered to fix it, despite numerous requests.

“The lockers are also often far too high to access from a wheelchair and they’re too narrow to hold all the extra stuff you might need if you’re disabled.

“At one sports centre, we were told the only place they could offer us to get changed was a cupboard under the stairs. Needless to say, we don’t go there anymore.”

Potential Paralympians Prevented from Playing

Joan has seen some talented sportsmen and women give up on playing sport because of inaccessible facilities at health centres.

“In some leisure centres the gym is upstairs and there isn’t a lift. When you’re training to reach the top of your field as a GB athlete you need to get in the gym to train, and that’s just not good enough.”

Sometimes these facilities are so bad they’re downright dangerous, Joan explains.

“I’ve seen loads of talented people drop out of playing sports entirely because of the facilities. One of our players, who had no legs and very limited mobility, sat on a toilet which hadn’t been properly screwed to the floor, and fell off and broke his arm. Not only was he in considerable pain, and discomfort – he was left in a position where he needed constant care.

“It put him off playing sport for good, and that’s probably just one of thousands of cases.”

A Change of Attitude is Needed

Accessibility is a problem across the UK, and it isn’t limited sports centres.

“Our players come from every corner of the country and accessibility is a big issue everywhere. It comes down to a lack of thought and it affects every aspect of a wheelchair user’s life.”

Earlier this year, Joan found herself apologising for the state of public transport for disabled people in UK to the Australian wheelchair rugby league team.

“The wheelchair rugby league world cup was held in Kent in July, and both my sons were selected to play for Wales.

“We were staying in the same hotel as the Australian squad, who decided to go sightseeing in London one day. They researched accessible tube stations beforehand, but when making their way back they were told the station was closed and had to find another one.

“They finally got a train back to Medway where we were staying at about midnight, but the hotel was about three miles away and there were no accessible taxis, so they ended up making their own way back.

“To make matters worse they had a match the next day. It was embarrassing to see international athletes treated like that. I ended up apologising on behalf of the UK government.

“That’s just one example, but it’s like that every day of our lives. It’s an attitude that’s present everywhere.”

Sponsor:

This interview was sponsored by Total Locker Service, experts in supplying accessible lockers and other secure storage solutions for all sorts of needs. They provide top-quality lockers for leisure centres, gyms, schools and offices. Contact the team on 01284 749211 for more details.