Iron mascots attend summer Olympics event involving children in care

At the start of the summer holidays, children in care within North Lincolnshire were treated to a three-day Olympic style event, culminating in an athletics day at Quibell Park, Scunthorpe.

The events were put on to encourage and showcase the positive impact physical activity can have on the whole body and play a part in building a solid foundation for an active lifestyle as well as providing an opportunity for our children in care to shine and try new experiences they may not have experienced – creating lasting memories and moments to celebrate.

Cllr Julie Reed, cabinet member for children, families, and communities, opened the day at Quibell Park and said: “It was an honour to welcome everyone, children and staff to the team North Lincolnshire Olympics. Quibell Park was a fabulous setting for a fantastic group of children and young people to shine and celebrate together.

“Despite the initial morning rain, all children and staff enjoyed an opening ceremony, walking the track with Olympic flags and were really going for gold.

“It made me very proud to see our children and young people in care participating and enjoying this event, alongside members of staff from Children and Families, showcasing what it truly means to be part of one family for all our children and families in North Lincolnshire.”

As part of the warmup before the day of races, Scunthorpe United F.C.’s mascots Scunny Bunny and Hunny Bunny came along to join in with the children providing lots of fun and encouragement for all involved.

As the day went on, there were numerous sports day events including egg and spoon races, running events, long jump, football and relay races with plenty of laughter, smiles, determination to win and team spirit.

Allegro Gymnastic Academy’s display team performed a routine to close the day at Quibell Park based on The Hunger Games which was performed last year at the Gymnaestrada in Amsterdam where they represented Team GB.

Celine Major, senior coach of Allegro’s display team, said: “We felt privileged to attend and perform at the event, showcasing the abilities of our display team who proudly represented Team GB last year. We hope that our performance inspired the next generation of children wishing to try gymnastics to come along and see what we are all about – we have something for everyone at Allegro.”

A young person said of the day: “It was ace from start to finish. A brilliant day, absolutely loved it.”

Prior to the athletics day at Quibell Park, a variety of taster sessions were put on by North Lincolnshire Council and recently signed up fostering friendly members for the children and young people in care including performing arts at Kimberley Performing Arts Centre, dog agility, a multi-sports session, and a martial arts session with Koku-Ryu.

The incredible three-day event was made possible by numerous teams within North Lincolnshire Council (including fostering, social workers, active health and wellbeing), fostering friendly members as well as Corporate Parenting champions such as Humberside Police and Humberside Fire & Rescue.

Find out more about fostering and the fostering friendly scheme for employers and organisations on the website or you can also keep up to date with your fostering community by registering to receive the North Lincolnshire Council Friends of Fostering newsletter.