A BADMINTON court fits well in a cathedral nave, leaving plenty
of room for at least one table-tennis table. Also inside St
Edmundsbury Cathedral they managed a static exercise bike, and the
paralympic game of boccia, a form of the more familiar
French boules.
Nor did the St Edmundsbury & Ipswich
Festival of Sport stop there. On the cathedral lawn were tennis and
archery (for which, I am told, there was a continual queue), Nordic
walking round the grounds, a sailing boat adapted for disabled
people on display, and hockey in the car park.
"This event [was] all about giving everyone a chance to have a
go, even if we can't all be medal winners," Canon Matthew Vernon,
one of the organisers, said. "There are a lot of values linked with
the Olympics and Paralympics which resonate with Christian values,
such as respect, excellence, and equality."
The festival lasted two days, and was free. Donations went to
the cathedral and to the provision of sporting equipment for
Rwandan schoolchildren. RAF trainees had helped to push all the
nave chairs into the side aisles to leave space for the sports,
and, on the third day, the nave was still free of chairs, so that
visitors could admire the space.
But what delighted the organisers most was the number of people
who came who would not usually come to cathedral events, and who
clearly enjoyed themselves.