A karting centre is offering opportunities to the disabled not only on the track, through its new state-of-the-art kart, but also off the track through a work placement it provides to a young man with a brain injury.
Anglia Indoor Karting Centre on Farthing Road, Ipswich, has purchased a £5,000 two seater kart for those unable to drive themselves and is looking to run specific sessions for the physically challenged too.
The investment means a lot to the centre’s director, Paula Partridge, who has a severely disabled nephew.
“Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to try out the go karts yet because he is ill at the moment, but hopefully when he is better he will,” she said.
Anglia Karting, which is now in its 29th year and employs 18 staff, has also been working with a local organisation to provide a work placement for the last nine months to Leslie, who has an acquired brain injury and communicates via phone.
“Leslie approached the centre to enquire about volunteering opportunities, as he has always been interested in cars and he thought this would be a good fit with his interests,” said Ms Partridge. “It’s great for us because he’s such a cheery chap, and he helps us out. He comes with a support worker and helps out doing whatever needs doing - cleaning, putting party bags together and getting stuff ready for the customers.
“He is also a very keen kart driver himself and would encourage anyone to have a go.”
Thanks to the new 270cc kart that the centre has invested in, drivers who are not able to drive themselves have the opportunity to experience ‘hot laps’ as a passenger in the instructor-driven two-seater kart.
All drivers must first go through a comprehensive safety briefing, and the instructor demonstrates simple instructions for the passenger to follow if they would like to go faster, slower, or stop. They must be able to use their hands to communicate with the instructor while on the track.
Access Karting sessions, which the track use is exclusive to access karting groups, will run on Wednesdays 10am to 12pm from February 27.
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