JEANNINE Carey has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her work helping the disability community in Jersey.
At the age of 14, she was asked to help out at Seaton Youth Club, which was hosting weekly sessions with the group Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied, now simply known as Phab.
“That was when it started,” she recalls. “They had people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties.”
She was keen to introduce them to her sport of trampolining, but was too young at that age to undertake the teaching qualifications. “I started to teach it on my 18th birthday,” she says.
Soon, she was taking it to other youth clubs, many of which also had members with disabilities. And now, at the age of 61 and as a learning difficulties co-ordinator with Jersey Sports Association for the Disabled, Mrs Carey is still spreading sport to those who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to take part.
It is a role she has fitted in around her two other jobs, working for Standard Bank and raising two daughters.
But she remains passionate about it. “I believe in everyone taking part in sport,” she explains. “I like to see everyone getting involved.”
Some people with learning disabilities also have physical problems, while others may be physically fit but could have some difficulty getting to grips with all the rules of sports, but she says they can be introduced gradually – and it is rewarding seeing that progress.
“People take small steps and then the penny drops,” she adds.
She has, she continues, seen major changes for the better over her 47 years of involvement, saying: “When I started out, there were no sports opportunities for people with learning difficulties.
“With inclusion and diversity, all the sports clubs now have inclusion policies. And many schools do a lot more.
“There is so much more on offer, whether it’s for people with physical or learning disabilities. People are far more aware of it.”
Mrs Carey’s daughters also help people with disabilities. Her older daughter, Zoe, works with Les Amis while the other, Josie, is head coach with Jersey Special Gymnastics.
Mrs Carey did not expect the honour and says she is “totally humbled” by it, but adds: “At the end of the day, you do it because you enjoy it.”
And she insists: “There is a whole team of people involved. It’s not just for me, it’s for everybody.”
