News
If you have any opinions or useful suggestions, then please feel free to email at hello@diverseuk.org
If you are interested in running a group or hosting an activity we will support you. So please get in touch to discuss!
National Lottery Community Funding !!!
We would like to tell you all the good news, we've been successful in getting a grant to fund us for a further three years from the National Lottery!
We are very grateful to their Reaching Communities fund for this. Their ideals are to bring people together, build strong relationships in communities, improve the spaces that matter to them & to help more people to reach their potential.
Now we can keep going & keep improving our community! We are ecstatic as we know how much our events mean to many people; there isn't anywhere doing quite what we're doing for our community.
We could not have done this without your help with sending us your experiences, helping with questionnaires & for simply enjoying the safe space our community brings! Thank you so much for being a part of Diverse UK :)
Welcoming to new members of the Diverse UK team !!!
Diverse wants to offer congratulations to both on their appointments.
Gigi is the new Volunteer Events Manager
Gigi is the latest addition to the Diverse UK team as Volunteering Events Manager. They have been working in events, live music and non-profits for the last 10 years, and she's really excited to be bringing a wealth of knowledge, excitement and passion for inclusion and accessibility. In their spare time, you will find Gigi in green spaces, reading, and writing about the hottest theatre, gigs and album releases.
Gigi can be contacted on gigi@diverseuk.org
Phoebe is starting as our new depot manager
We are delighted to welcome Phoebe this month (April 2025) who has joined Diverse as depot manager. She has started her Induction. This means that she will be looking after all the equipment that Diverse takes to events such as festivals.
The job will involve a lot of hard physical work making sure all the equipment is put back in the right place and that the kits are already to go off to the various events Diverse will be at this summer.
This includes Love saves the day, Bristol Pride, Download, Bludfest, Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury.
Overall Diverse is likely to be at about 10 different festivals between May and September this year provided a Sensory Calm Space for autistic people needing a sensory break. The Diverse depot is at Filwood house in Fishponds, Bristol.
Glastonbury Festival's new sensory spaces
Diverse on ITV News West at last years Glastonbury Festival.
Minibus fund for Diverse
Minibus fund for Diverse - please give!
Diverse UK is hoping to raise money to buy a minibus so we can go out on activities for our groups and members.
The Diverse minibus will also allow us to provide the Sensory Calm Spaces at events and festivals across the UK.
Here is the link to the JustGiving page:
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure.
Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails.
Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Huge Thanks to New Beginnings for their donation
Last year, Diverse was absolutely bowled over by a extremely generous donation from the very wonderful and kind New Beginnings Limited. New Beginnings have really helped us get on the pathway with this venture and we are very grateful indeed.
The funding for the Minibus is still going strong, thanks for your donations. We appreciate every one. As a result of this donation we are on our way to the halfway mark. We are currently at £ 4,375 as of February 2025
Please do keep giving as every little helps to support this fundraising project!
Diverse UK Discord Server
Hi everyone, we are finding ourselves with a need to migrate to a new discord server.
The Website has now been updated to point to the correct server (bottom right).
The current discord server will remain around but will shortly go read-only. Please post any new content, including questions on the new server.
We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you, but we look forward to engaging with you all in our new home.
Evaluation of the impact of Diverse
For the full report please follow this link.
The summary report can be found here.
Diverse Football Fun – Two Seasons In!!
On 9th February 2022 we started a new Diverse Football Fun group at Windmill Hill City Farm. We had four participants and a bag of balls and cones borrowed from Bristol City Football Club.
Since those early sessions we have grown and now have a group of around 10 regular attendees playing once a month on a Monday morning.
We have our own equipment and have recently moved to play on a larger astro pitch at Horfield Leisure Centre. The group is all about having fun and we occasionally have the opportunity to play small-sided evening games against other groups and have done well in these friendly games.
We have also recently joined forces with a local football club, Rockleaze Rangers, in order for some of our players to play in tournaments.
Our players really enjoy the sessions which involve some warm up exercises and then a series of small sided games for a couple of hours before some of us take time to have lunch and catch up in the café.
The sessions are good for getting exercise outdoors and just having fun so if you are tempted you might be interested in the feedback from some of the current group:
Peter: “I love football and the friendly environment of the diverse fun football. It’s great too that we play friendlies and tournaments too. The football helps with my mental and physical health.”
Arlo: “Really enjoy the chilled atmosphere. Very low pressure and it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake. Love the friendly environment and that everyone has a laugh.”
George: “I like the fact that everyone supports each other and everyone has a laugh and comes away feeling really positive and going home with a smile on their face.”
Robin: “Fun, fast-paced matches that are full of goals. So if you miss a chance or give a goal away then there's opportunity to do better just minutes later.”
Michael: “I've thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the diverse footy group. I have had very good opportunities to build positive friendships and keep contact with some of the guys.”
Stephen: “I look forward to our Football sessions once a month. They are really fun, but equally its great to learn and improve footy skills, everyone is really friendly and supportive of one another.”
The team that beat Longwell Green back in January: Back row L to R Robin, George, Ben, Stefan, Peter. Front row L to R, Oscar, Arlo, Rob
Diverse Sports Fun Article 2025
Hello everyone, my name is Alistair and for the last 3 years I have been running monthly tennis and football fun sessions. They are Monday mornings and we really put the emphasis on having fun.
In fact if you ask the people who attend the Tennis Fun they will probably say its not really tennis at all and you certainly don’t need to be good at tennis or using a racket.
We play on tennis courts at a great tennis club, Kings, in Bishopston and we use the court space to play some pretty silly games. Most recently we have been focused on Ball Juggling using racquets and passing ball or balls between us round a circle.
We also regularly play Prison Break where each player has to hit a ball into the court space without being caught. If caught the catcher is released from prison and can return to hitting on the “outside” and the hitter goes into prison and aims to get out by catching someone else. We have had some pretty dodgy characters manage to keep themselves out of prison for long periods!
The current centre piece at Tennis Fun is the Under-Inflated Blue Ball World Championship. Oscar won’t mind me telling you that he is the current world champion but has to defend his title every month. The game is played with very soft and bouncy inflatable balls and the aim is to hit the ball over the net using the palm of your hand. It does get very silly but everyone is intent on getting the title.
The facilities at Kings Tennis Club are great and we often use the clubhouse after to have a drink, some lunch and a chat.
Football is also a lot of fun. We play outside on Astroturf at Horfield Sports Centre. There is a wide range of football experience and everyone is welcome even if inexperienced.
We do a few practice drills but mostly we play games often with some wacky rules such as next goal is worth 5 or only one player can score. We also set a challenge for the stronger players in a game of 2 versus 6 which is always very entertaining and certainly pretty tiring for the pair.
We occasionally play football friendly games and have recently been quite successful. For those who want to play a bit more football we have joined forces with another club called Rockleaze Ranges who run an adult team catering for people on the spectrum. A combined Diverse and Rockleaze team play one day tournaments every six weeks or so.
Both Sports groups are great for getting some fresh air and exercise and are also wonderful for meeting up with others and socialising.
Hopefully this description has given you a better idea of these groups and maybe a taste for participating. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to find out more and give a session a try in 2025.
Thanks Alistair
Tel : 07702677783
