Starfish Swimming Club - a member of the Halliwick Association of Swimming Therapy
Starfish Swimming Club - a member of the Halliwick Association of Swimming Therapy
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About Us

Our Aims:
1. To teach water-happiness, pool-safety and swimming to all people with a disability, irrespective of the type or degree of disability, age, sex or race and in accordance with the Halliwick method.


2. Through an emphasis on ability and mutual encouragement, swimmers and helpers grow in knowledge and skill, building a club with a unity of purpose, good company and friendship.


3. To give people with a disability the opportunity to take part in an activity in water.
This includes canoeing and kayaking.


4. To link up with and help other similar clubs and to form new clubs wherever there is a need.

Enjoyable
The time in the club should be enjoyable. Not only in the pool, but the after session refreshments, the trips and inevitable party are all part of what we are doing.


Integrated
Everyone can contribute. As well as pool work there are other important work such as organising transport, help in dressing, providing refreshments, welcoming newcomers, keeping the records up to date. In the club, just as in the water, everyone is on the same level.

Voluntary

All work is voluntary and people do what they can. Whatever they can give/do is appreciated and there is no pressure to do more.

The club is for all ages and for most types of disability. Water only reacts to two factors: density and shape. Because it is so much denser than air, it helps to ease pain, is a gentle and effective medium for physical exercise and by slowing up the normal rhythms of movement in air, it can help ease stress.

For some disabilities, the only possibility of walking in a controlled way is in water. Its buoyancy allows the clumsiness of land movement to be replaced by smoothness and floating. One needed be afraid of falling and for people who spend most of their lives looking up at others from wheelchairs, they can interact at the same level in water.

We have the natural "floaters" who may have floppy or paralysed limbs or simply have some extra weight e.g. muscular dystrophy, spina bifida or paraplegia. We have the natural "sinkers" who are stiff or have uncontrolled movement from tensing of muscles e.g. cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke. And we have the natural "rollers" who have an uneven body shape e.g. amputation, congenitally missing limbs, hemiplegia. Our ages range from approx. 5 to an unspecified number of years and include people temporarily recovering from injury, reducing pain, increasing flexibility in joints…… While our purpose is becoming "water free" rather than remedial we do have people under the supervision of doctors and physiotherapists referred to us.
   
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