Penningtons Manches Cooper partners with Surrey Sports Park to deliver multi-sport days for disabled communities
Penningtons Manches Cooper has strengthened its strategic community and wellbeing partnership with Surrey Sports Park by helping to deliver a new programme of inclusive sporting events for disabled communities.
Children and adults with physical and learning disabilities, including autism, will take part in free multi-sport experiences at the Park this spring and summer as part of a new inclusive programme designed to remove barriers to participation and build confidence through sport.
The SportsAbility Series 2026 brings together the firm, the University of Surrey, and Active Surrey to deliver two dedicated days of accessible, multi-sport activity.
A Schools Day on Wednesday 6 May will welcome Key Stage 2 pupils from specialist schools including Freemantles, Bensham Manor and Burstow Park. A Community Day on Wednesday 3 June will be open to adults supported by local disability organisations, including the Halow Project, a Guildford-based charity supporting people aged 16 and over with learning disabilities and autism, and LinkAble, a Woking-based charity supporting people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
The SportsAbility Series builds on a previous Sportsability Day held at Surrey Sports Park, extending the format from a single event to a two-part programme covering both schools and the wider community.
Staff from across Penningtons Manches Cooper will volunteer alongside Surrey Sports Park teams and the community partners on both days.
The events have been co-designed with participating schools and community organisations to ensure activities are genuinely tailored to the needs and abilities of each group. Surrey Sports Park’s £36 million facilities – which served as a training base for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – will be made available for the programme, giving participants access to professional-standard venues that would otherwise be difficult to reach.
Alongside the physical benefits of sport, the programme aims to support mental wellbeing, foster social connections and help participants develop independence and confidence. It forms part of Surrey Sports Park’s wider commitment to deliver more than £1 million in social value to the Surrey community by 2028.
Active Surrey, the county sports partnership, is a delivery partner for the programme, contributing its expertise in increasing participation among underrepresented groups across the county.
Georgina Agnies, director of university sport at the University of Surrey, said:
“SportsAbility is about making Surrey Sports Park a place where everyone feels welcome and able to take part. We focus on removing barriers by designing each session around the participant and their needs. Having partners such as Penningtons and Active Surrey unlocks doors for us to contribute more to the local communities. Working with local families, we aim to ensure our facilities are a genuine community resource for Guildford and the wider Surrey area.”
Mike Busby, partner and a member of the strategy board at Penningtons Manches Cooper, commented:
“We’re incredibly proud to support Surrey Sports Parks’s SportsAbility Series, having seen first‑hand over previous years the positive and lasting impact these days have on the local community. I’m personally very much looking forward to being at Surrey Sports Park again, together with a team from our Guildford office, to support the delivery of these events and to play our part in making them such a success. Initiatives like this are a powerful example of how sport can create opportunity, build confidence and bring people together.”
Megan Mosey, diversity, equity and inclusion and CSR manager at Penningtons Manches Cooper, added:
“Supporting the Sportsability series aligns closely with our focus on inclusion, wellbeing and community impact – all key pillars in our commitment to being a responsible business. We believe in removing barriers and creating opportunities for all, not only within our own sector but across the communities we’re part of. Sportsability allows us to extend that commitment into sport, creating inclusive environments for participation, building confidence and connecting with others – reflecting the same thinking that underpins our internal ‘Thisability’ employee network. It’s also incredibly rewarding to see so many of our people keen to get involved and help ensure everyone gets the most out of such an important initiative.”