The current Covid 19 crisis is really challenging for young people. You might be feeling worried, frustrated, or just plain bored – but however you feel, we hope you’ll find something to help you in this guide. This guide is written for young people with disabilities or special educational needs by the *Compass Card Team at Amaze.
*The Compass Card is a free leisure discount card run by the Sussex-based charity Amaze for disabled 0 to 25s living or going to school in Brighton & Hove or West Sussex. To find out more about the card and how to apply, click here. To find our more about Amaze, click here.
If you have ideas about things we could add to the guide, email compass@amazesussex.org.uk If you’re in Brighton & Hove or East Sussex and you’re part of Amazing Futures, you could also get in touch with:
If you’re in West Sussex, you could also get in touch with Youth Voice:
There are some new rules about this, so as long as you stay at least two metres (the width of a car) away from anyone who you don’t live with, you can exercise outdoors as often as you like, drive to open spaces for the day and meet up to five people who you don’t live with outdoors or in a garden. Playgrounds are still closed, but facilities like multi use outdoor sports courts and tennis courts are largely open. You can see more information about the new government advice here.
If you want a big outdoor space, parks are great. If you go to a park or open space, you can play contact sports like football with people you live with, but you need to keep to the two metre rule with anyone you don’t live with.
If you want to see where your local parks are, click this link for information about spaces in Brighton & Hove, this link for East Sussex and this link for information about spaces in West Sussex.
There may be some things you can do to feel calmer. At Amazing Futures, Amaze’s project for 14 to 25s with additional needs in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex, we encourage young people to think about the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’.
You can text SHOUT to 85258 at any time of the day or night to get free mental health support and coping strategies.
Mindfulness or meditation, or yoga can help you to stay calm. There are lots of free yoga classes online. Here’s one you could try if you feel anxious.
Smiling Mind is a completely free app that gives you meditations tailored to what you need. You can download it for free in the App Store or Google Play.
‘Stop, Breathe & Think’ is described as an emotional wellness app for under 25s. You can download it to your iPhone or Android smartphone. It’s free for the basic meditations and you get about 30 of these. After that, you need to pay for a subscription. You can find it in the App Store or Google Play.
The charity Young Minds has provided some tips about looking after your mental health here.
There are lots of ways to have fun if you’re online. Here are some things you might enjoy.
Buzz Buddies for 18 to 25s. 18 to 25s with learning disabilities in West Sussex can have some online fun with Buzz Buddies, a collaboration between @ExtratimeBrighton and Gig Buddies. The fun fortnightly online meet-ups include quizzes and games. http://www.extratimebrighton.org.uk/family-events/buzz-buddies-18-25-years/
See Earth from space. You can get a view of the Earth via the NASA International Space Station livestream. The space station passes into darkness for roughly half of its 90 minute orbits, so there’s no video available during these times.
Travel the world with Google Maps. You can climb El Capitan in Yosemete National Park, trek to Everest Base Camp, explore Brazil’s Amazon Basin and more using Google Maps.
Live music online. Local charity Stay Up Late usually provides Gig Buddies for people with learning disabilities or Autism so they can go out to events. Public events are cancelled for the moment, but the Stay Up Late team has come up with a great way of keeping in touch online with the Gig Buddies Coronavirus Fest Facebook page. Here you’ll see all sorts of musicians performing live or you can watch previous shows when you want.
All the fun of the circus. If you love the circus, we’ve got some good news for you! World famous circus company, Cirque du Soleil is sharing a 60 minute video with the best moments from their popular live shows. You can also paint your face like a Cirque du Soleil artist with make-up tutorials and there’s a weekly work-out programme too.
Go to Disney! Disneyland parks may be closed, but you can try lots of the best rides online at the ‘Virtual Disney World’ YouTube channel. You can watch them online or using a VR headset.
Check out Georgia Aquarium. Want to see what the penguins are up to in Georgia Aquarium in the US? Hint – they’re completely oblivious to Coronavirus! You can see them via the aquarium’s webcam here. And if penguin’s aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other webcams including jellyfish, beluga whales and more.
Something for puzzle geeks. The Enigma Emporium is an American company that sells puzzles and games, but you can now download its entire first game, ‘Wish You Were Here’, in pdf format for free. You’ll need a PC or laptop computer to do this, not a mobile phone. We were completely baffled by it, but serious puzzlers or people who love escape rooms will love it. If you get stuck, there are hints on the Enigma website.
Libraries are full of surprises. Libraries are closed at the moment, but did you know you can get free e-books, e-comics and audiobooks if you’re a library member? If you’re not already a member, it’s easy to join online.
More books to read online. American company Books Online has made its collection of over 3000 e-books and e-audio books for available for free. The books are fiction and non-fiction and suitable for all ages. Use this link.
Physical and mental challenges from Volume 1 climbing. Those guys at Volume 1 climbing in Felbridge are keeping their Facebook followers on their toes with some tough but fun physical and mental challenges. Can you do the Bean Balance Banana Boat? You won’t know until you’ve tried…
Amazine – it’s amazing! If you’re a part of Amazing Futures in Brighton & Hove or East Sussex, you can keep up to date with the brand new Amazine, an online zine. You can see the third issue here. There will be a new Amazine every couple of weeks and you can contribute by emailing Amazemagazine1@gmail.com.
There are lots of free online exercise classes you can do to stay fit and healthy. These are just a few we’ve found.
Free online exercise with Active Sussex and REBOOT. This is a great way of accessing local sports and activities at home including yoga, street dance with Compass Card Partner Marina Studios and boxing. Find out more here.
Join Joe Wicks. PE With Joe may be aimed at children, but it seems everyone’s doing it these days! Joe, already well known for his YouTube workouts, cookbooks and C4 TV show, is running free 30 minute live workouts at 9am each week day on his YouTube channel ‘The Body Coach TV’ here.
Exercise with the NHS. You’ll find lots of exercise videos on the NHS website including aerobic exercise, strength and resistance, pilates and yoga and more. There’s even belly dancing for beginners!
Fitness for wheelchair users. Wheelchair users might like to try Wheely Good Fitness for a good wheelchair work-out with disability fitness instructor Kris Saunders-Stowe. You can find Kris on Facebook here. Kris also runs Sofa Superheroes, exercises for the whole family. These 2 or 2.5 minute videos are perfectly timed for you to look at during the adverts if you’re watching TV. You can find the Superhero Series here.
Let’s dance! Compass Card Partner Marina Studios is a firm favourite with many young people and we’re pleased to say they’ve taken their classes online. So if you’ve never been to a class before and you would like to give it a go from home, now’s your chance! You’re asked to donate if you can to support the dance teachers.
Online fitness from Everyone Active. Compass Card Partner Everyone Active is providing free online videos so you can get hot and sweaty in your living room. Find out more here.
BBC Live Lessons. The BBC is providing video lessons for children and young people up to the age of 16. The 30 to 40 minute lessons feature collaborations with Doctor Who, Blue Planet Live, Radio 2’s 500 Words, the Royal Shakespeare Company and others and are linked to the National Curriculum. Find out more here. There’s also lots of stuff on BBC Teach for primary and secondary pupils. The world’s your oyster!
Learn to code for free with Amazon Future Engineer. Amazon has joined forces with Fire Tech to provide a free virtual coding programme for 12 to 17s until 3 June 2020. You can fly drones, design smart cities and create chatbots and earn badges when you unlock skills.
Learn to code for free. You can build your own games using drag and drop coding. You just need to register on the site to get the two free lesson plans. Click here to find out more.
Free guitar lessons. Guitar firm Fender is offering 100,000 free three month online subscriptions to its online guitar lessons (until 20 April, or until 100,000 people sign up). Find out more here. There are other free online lessons too. For example, Iain MacLeod Music is running short lessons for complete beginners. Find out more here.
Creative development with CFT. If you’re crazy about the arts, Compass Card Partner Chichester Festival Theatre (CFT) has put its Arts Award resources online, so if you want a meaty challenge, you can complete an award from home. It’s free, but if you want CFT to moderate your work at the end, there’s a fee. Find out more here.
For more information about learning, see our Leisure, Learning and Lockdown guide for families here.
Amaze
Registered Charity No 1078094
