Latest / NDV Podcast: Neurodiverse Voices Connect / KatieFest 2026 Special

Transcript

KatieFest 2026 Special · NDV Podcast: Neurodiverse Voices Connect

0:17
Hi everyone, I'm back to Katy Fest, this time in 2026.
0:22
It's my third time. It's another beautiful day.
0:24
I think we are very blessed with the weather at Katy Fest and
0:29
I've got John Peel with me who is the chair of the Trustees of
0:34
Katy Fest. Hi, John.
0:35
Hello, nice to see you again, Andre.
0:37
Nice to see you too. How are you?
0:38
I'm very good with I'm. I'm surprisingly calm.
0:42
I think there's been a lot of work put into this, but
0:46
incredible amount of planning, some fantastic volunteer support
0:50
and everything's going according to plan so far.
0:55
Great, and you can already feel the energy.
0:58
Yeah, this is this is, this is special.
1:01
I mean, I always know it's going to be special, but there's also
1:05
a lot of responsibility for making sure that happens.
1:08
But yeah, at the end of the day, this is something that Gareth
1:12
said to me. He's one of the other trustees.
1:14
He said as long as the kids are running around, that's the most
1:16
important thing. Nothing else really matters.
1:19
But yeah, the energy, the smiles of everyone.
1:22
I haven't stopped smiling. All mourning.
1:23
And that's not, that's not my normal facial expression, I
1:27
assure you. But yeah, it's it's a fantastic
1:29
thing to be part of. And especially for you because
1:32
Katie is your daughter, right? And we've talked about this in
1:36
my first year. But for new listeners, would you
1:39
mind just sharing a bit about Katie?
1:41
Yeah, thank you for saying IS. And that's a really important
1:44
thing. She's still with us.
1:48
Yeah, she's the inspiration for Wallingford Wolves.
1:53
This is the team that we have here, Whitney.
1:56
We're the first team to have a SEND team.
1:58
I wanted to do it for a long time.
2:00
She had autism and learning disability and epilepsy and for
2:06
a long time I wanted to, to do a scenting but but I didn't think
2:10
she'd engage. But I I just bit the bullet one
2:14
day and took her along to Whitney.
2:16
I was right, she didn't. But after a while she did and
2:20
she started playing and getting involved.
2:22
And that made me realize that it's something we had to do.
2:26
And the advice from the Whitney coach was don't let perfect be
2:29
the enemy of good. So we started with just three,
2:32
three players. We did some outreach to the
2:36
local respite centre, the Chilton Centre we're in, it's a
2:39
Henley College and we went to some schools as well.
2:41
And from that and from word of mouth, we've got 15 players
2:45
coming on a regular basis now. So if if there is such a thing
2:52
as a legacy, then her legacy is that we're building a movement
2:58
for providing more sports opportunities for people like
3:00
her. Yeah.
3:02
It's very, very inspiring, yeah, and I'm very honoured and feel
3:07
very lucky to always been invited and be a part of Katy
3:10
Fest. Well, you've always been one of
3:12
our one of our Star Wars and the work you do is, is really
3:15
important as well. And we'll always make a special
3:17
place for you, Andrea, because it's you're part of the family.
3:20
Thank you so much. I look forward to see that :)
3:23
for the rest of the day, we'll. See, as I said, it's not my
3:26
normal, but it's hard not to smile when you have a day and an
3:30
event like this to be part of. Yeah.
3:32
And I hope to be able to enjoy a bit of it as well, not just
3:35
working hard. Please do.
3:37
Please do. Because it's lovely, Yeah.
3:38
Thank you so much, John. Hi everyone, I've got Josh here
3:51
with me who takes part or used to take part in the sense of
3:56
friendly rugby sessions at Gosford's All All Blacks and I'm
4:00
quite interested to know from him how much he liked those
4:05
sessions and why. Hi, Josh.
4:11
They were quite. Fun and everyone was nice and I
4:22
I liked her but I can't remember much because it was I've been a
4:28
friend of mine. But I did like them a lot and
4:36
there's lots of different games to play.
4:40
But I don't know. It's good because you are with
4:44
with friends and you are outside of the house, not just playing
4:48
video games, isn't it? Yeah, but the Wasps might.
4:54
If it's summer warm, they might chase everyone.
4:58
Yeah, yeah, we don't like Wasps. There's a lot of them here.
5:03
That's why we are inside, to try to run away from from there.
5:07
And how are you finding Katie Fest today?
5:10
Good. It's quite good weather.
5:16
And. It's quite good.
5:21
I don't really, I haven't taken parts, but it is it looks fun.
5:29
It's a beautiful day and Josh is here with his mum Leandra and is
5:33
assisting on the centipedes stall as well, isn't it?
5:38
Yeah, great. Thank you so much for sharing
5:42
your experience with the Sun Friendly Rugby sessions and also
5:46
with Katy Fest. Thanks, Josh.
5:48
OK, bye. Thank you. everyone.
6:00
I'm still here at Katy Fest and once again I have Councillor
6:06
Nigel Simpson with me to tell us about how his last year has been
6:12
since we last met at Katy Fest. Yeah, a a busy year in local
6:16
politics and yeah, it's it's great to be back again.
6:19
So my third year and just seeing how it's grown year on year and
6:23
the weather is amazing as well. So it's just another perfect
6:25
day. Yeah, definitely.
6:28
And Nigel, how, what have you been working on in, in the past
6:32
year? So we're still trying to still
6:34
improve our sports facilities, make them more open to everybody
6:37
sort of thing 'cause things have moved on.
6:39
We certainly have a lot more girls playing sports and that in
6:42
the areas obviously neurodiverse teams as well sort of thing.
6:46
So we just, we don't seem to have enough facilities for
6:49
everybody. So it's a case of right, how can
6:51
we work with developers and to get more in the local community,
6:55
better quality facilities as well, that's the key thing.
6:58
So, yeah, absolutely. And as of May of of this year,
7:03
you will become the district, the chair of District Council.
7:08
What does that mean and what are your plans for the future?
7:11
So what's more a ceremonial position being the chair of the
7:14
council, but it's the case of you also have your own charities
7:17
through the year. So then you hold events, you
7:19
raise money. So I'll be looking at sort of
7:21
local charities where I can help them.
7:24
What maybe something like a Katy Fest sort of thing to, to, I
7:28
know they lay on the food, they hope the whole thing is done for
7:30
free for, for the, the users. This case of they still have to
7:33
raise the money behind the scenes.
7:35
So any sort of support I can give to that sort of initiative.
7:37
That's that's what my role will be as a chair sort of thing is,
7:40
is raise as much money as I can to help these great sort of
7:44
initiatives. Yeah, absolutely.
7:46
Because we wish that we didn't need money to to carry out some
7:50
of our some of our initiatives, but sadly we do so.
7:55
Yeah, it's, it's a shame that maybe the local authorities
7:57
don't get more involved to to fund them as well, because it
8:01
doesn't cost a lot of money really to to put this on because
8:04
it's still so many great volunteers.
8:06
But things like paying for the food, for the drink and for the
8:08
trophies, a few 1000 LB goes a long, long way.
8:11
So, but yeah, it's a case of, yeah, I know last year we had
8:13
some counsellors come along, but I think we need to get more
8:16
involved with our local politicians just to raise
8:19
awareness and that and say, look, this is the amazing work
8:21
that's happening on your doorstep, come and help us.
8:24
Yeah, absolutely. OK Anything else you would like
8:28
to add? No, just OK, thanks to all the
8:30
volunteers. They do an amazing job year in,
8:32
year out. So they, it's not just today,
8:34
it's throughout the whole year. I'm part of the, the WhatsApp
8:37
group and just seeing the, the, the work that goes behind the
8:39
scenes and they're the, all the unsung heroes that are put in
8:42
that their time and their effort, their money to make this
8:45
a massive success. And today is just the results of
8:50
hard work. It's a perfect day.
8:52
You can ask for better for everyone.
8:53
The the smiley faces from the children all the way up to the
8:57
adults. It's a it's a giant safe space
9:00
for everybody. Absolutely.
9:02
Thank you so much, Nigel. I'm sure I will see you next
9:05
year. I'm sure you will.
9:06
Thank you. Thank you.
9:15
Right. So this one doesn't need any
9:17
introductions because you've seen her a million times on the
9:20
Neuro Diverse Voices podcast. But I'm very happy, always very
9:24
happy to have her on here. Hi Leandra.
9:27
Hello, thank you for inviting me back again.
9:30
I'm sure people are getting very bored, but yeah, thank you so
9:33
much. I'm sure they aren't because
9:34
today we are at Katie Fest, which is something else that
9:38
you're involved with. You know, another just another
9:41
thing. Yeah.
9:43
Because you don't have enough on your plate.
9:45
Yeah, well, I mean, this one's something special.
9:47
It's related to the club and something close to all of us, so
9:52
I've got to show my face and and say see how everyone else is
9:55
getting on and enjoy the weather and the food and yeah, just mix
10:00
with everyone. Yeah, so how is it going at
10:03
Gosford or Blacks with the sand friendly rugby sessions on
10:06
Sunday? Oh, it's going really well.
10:08
We've got lots and lots of new faces, we've got regulars, we've
10:11
got just everybody having a great time and the skills are
10:16
coming out, you know, everyone's showing what they've learnt and
10:19
yeah, I just, I just enjoy every Sunday.
10:22
And today you have your own stall for Centipede.
10:26
How is that going? Well, yeah, I'm collecting stuff
10:30
now. I've noticed I've got a little
10:31
colour theme going on, so I've got a lot of like a trolley and
10:35
a book thing and it's all in the same colour so excuse me but you
10:39
know, I like everything to match.
10:41
But yeah, happy with my little stall and yeah, I need to go and
10:44
sit there and say hello to some people rather than wandering
10:47
around all day. So, yeah, yeah.
10:49
Absolutely, it looks great and I love the colours.
10:51
So yeah, well, I'll see you around.
10:55
Enjoy the rest of Katy fests and until next time on the Neuro
11:00
Diverse Voices Podcast. Thanks so much and we'll see you
11:03
soon. Thank you.
11:12
Hi everyone, we're still here at Katy Fest and now I have Ellie
11:16
with me from Play Their Way. Hi, Ellie.
11:19
Hi, thank you very much for having me on.
11:21
You're very welcome. How have you been?
11:22
How are you finding? Today, honestly, I think it's
11:25
even better than I expected it to be.
11:27
We're here today to film a case study sort of based around
11:30
Darren Ray, who's been really instrumental in putting the
11:33
event on, and to also to sort of focus on Katy Fest as a whole.
11:38
But I think, you know, there's only so much that Darren, I
11:41
could say in the way that he described the event.
11:42
And I think honestly, it's just sort of blame me away sort of
11:45
the magnitude and yeah, just how amazing the day's events are,
11:49
really. So I guess this is your first
11:51
year. Yes, this is my first year
11:52
attending. Yeah, but I'm thinking that I
11:55
may become a regular attendee at this rate.
11:59
Great. Well, it's my third year, third
12:01
year I I record interviews. So I, I hope I have you again
12:05
next year. So tell me about play their way.
12:08
What? What is the initiative like?
12:10
So Play Their Way is a campaign that's funded by Sport England
12:15
and basically we're all about child first coaching.
12:18
So it's about putting the child 1st and we sort of centre the
12:23
main ethos of the campaign around 3 pillars which are
12:26
voice, choice and journey. And so voice is the right to be
12:30
heard, is the right for a child to express their views and their
12:32
needs within sport and for the coach to listen to them.
12:36
Second pillar is choice, which is the right to play.
12:39
So it's, you know, making sure that these children are having
12:41
fun, that they're enjoying their time in sport and that, you
12:44
know, it's not something they dread, it's something they
12:46
genuinely enjoy. And thirdly and finally is the
12:50
third pillar, which is journey. And that is the right to
12:51
develop. So it's about how that child is
12:54
able to develop in sport, but also how they develop as a
12:56
person. And, you know, it's we make it
12:59
very clear that development is not linear.
13:02
You know, it can look very different in very many different
13:04
shapes and sizes. And that very much sort of links
13:07
to today's event because it's the same community who are
13:10
taking part as the athletes in this event.
13:12
You know, development can look really different to them than it
13:14
can to other children outside of the same community.
13:18
Absolutely. And is this a national
13:20
initiative or is it local to Oxfordshire?
13:22
So it's a national campaign, so we put on events with national
13:27
governing bodies across the UK. You can join the movement, play
13:31
their way. If you look them up and go onto
13:34
the website, you can join the movement.
13:37
We're trying to spread the word as much as we can.
13:40
So one of the reasons that we're here today is for the case
13:42
study. And these case studies are done
13:45
in an attempt to sort of capture those people who embody the
13:49
values of the campaign so well. And as Darren won the Inclusive
13:53
Coaching award at UK Coaching last year, we already knew from
14:00
that nomination how how much he values the children and their
14:04
perspective on things. And yeah, so that's sort of why
14:07
we're here today is because we knew that Darren was very much a
14:11
play their way coach to begin. With and one final question, is
14:16
this applicable to rugby only or or is it applicable to other
14:21
sports? Play their way in captures all
14:24
sports. It's it's about everything.
14:26
It can be any kind of sport. It can be, you know, it can even
14:30
apply to your kids running around a playground and enjoying
14:34
themselves. It can be in a trampoline park.
14:35
It could be, you know, young children who are going all the
14:38
way up to like high performance level or talent development.
14:41
And you know, it could be young children who are still classed
14:44
as kids but are training for the Olympics like it can it can
14:47
apply to every single child. And and that's really what we're
14:50
trying to do, is that so that the whole country puts children
14:55
1st and really values their perspective on sport.
14:58
That's what I thought when you described the three pillars.
15:01
Well, well done. That sounds really, really good
15:04
and very much needed. It was lovely to meet you and
15:08
and thanks for this chat. And as I said, I hope to see you
15:12
here next year. Thank you.
15:14
I'm planning on being here next year so.
15:15
Great. Thank you.
15:25
Hi, here with me I have Joe. She's a team manager at
15:29
Wallingford Wolves and I'm quite curious to know a bit more about
15:33
what she does and about her experience with Katie Fest.
15:37
Hi, Joe. Hi, really nice to meet you.
15:40
It's really nice to meet you too, and I hope we stay
15:42
connected. Yes, definitely.
15:44
So I've been working with Wallingford Wolves since we
15:48
started. John and I worked together with
15:51
other people to found it. We started by going to visit
15:54
Whitney Rules and decided that we wanted to have a Wallingford
15:57
version, and it all kind of grew from there.
16:01
After John's daughter Katie died we wanted to start Katie Fest,
16:05
so I've been very involved with that since the start as well.
16:09
My role as team manager at Wallingford Wolves is to try and
16:12
keep everyone organised, make sure they've all got their
16:15
coaching and DBS qualifications that everyone knows when.
16:18
Our sessions are All the kind of boring bits that keep it going I
16:23
try and keep on top of. But actually we've got an
16:26
amazing group of coaches and everyone works together so I
16:29
don't feel that I've got a huge amount to do.
16:32
John does lots of the recruiting of new players and working with
16:36
parents, so I'm I suppose on his sidekick is the best way to
16:40
describe me. That sounds like a very fun,
16:45
although you said it's boring because it's the admin bits, but
16:48
it sounds like a very interesting role.
16:50
Yeah, I wrote the risk assessment.
16:51
That's the kind of job I do, Yeah.
16:53
You know, great. And what does Katie Fest mean to
16:58
you? So I, I, I guess you, you knew
17:01
Kate, Katie. Yeah, I knew Kate.
17:03
I actually taught her brother Ethan.
17:05
I'm a primary school teacher, so I've known in the Peel family
17:09
for about 20 years. So I knew Kate, although she
17:12
didn't come to my school, I knew her quite well and, and she was
17:16
the reason that we started rolling for the wolf.
17:18
So I've known her as a child, as an adult and, and it's obviously
17:22
really important to make the festival in her honour because
17:27
she was so special and and so part of why we decided to make a
17:32
Wolves team so. Then how and why do you think
17:36
it's important to have these kind of initiatives that where
17:40
inclusive sports happen for children and and young people?
17:44
I think it's important for two reasons.
17:46
The first reason is the obvious one, that we're giving
17:49
opportunities to young people that they wouldn't otherwise
17:52
have, and that's incredibly important and I really, really
17:55
support that. But I also think there's another
17:58
important thing which is bringing together neurotypical
18:03
able bodied people with our players and showing them that
18:07
our players are exactly the same as any other player.
18:10
I think the more that we bring groups of people together and
18:15
and show each group that the other group is equally important
18:19
and equally wonderful and equally deserving of playing
18:24
time and funding and all that kind of thing.
18:27
Every time we do an event like this, we bring together people
18:31
who have never worked together before, and I think that is
18:34
really, really important. So I love that we're inclusive,
18:37
but I think it works both ways. Absolutely.
18:41
That's my ideal world. Yeah, I I think eventually
18:45
ideally we we wouldn't have these binary between
18:48
neurotypical and neural divergent people.
18:51
I think if you've never experienced disability, if you
18:54
don't have a family member, if you have no experience, one of
18:58
the most important things that can happen is that you get to
19:01
meet people who are different to you and realise actually that
19:04
they're not that different, that we're just all people.
19:07
And I think until you've experienced working with,
19:10
talking to understanding someone with a disability, you have no
19:15
experience. And, and, and for some people
19:17
that can feel quite strange. Some of our young people
19:20
initially do appear quite different.
19:23
But then you come and you coach them and you, you talk to them
19:26
and you see them play and you realise actually they're no
19:29
different to anyone else. And that's a huge, a huge thing
19:33
for me. Yeah, absolutely.
19:36
And very inspiring. Thank you so much for all you
19:39
do, Joe. It was a pleasure to meet you
19:41
and I'm sure we'll stay connected.
19:43
Yes, definitely. Thank you so much.
19:45
Thank you. Enjoy the rest of Katy Fest.
19:57
Hi everyone, I now have Lexi here with me and she's going to
20:01
tell me about her experience at the Gosford All Black Stand
20:05
friendly rugby sessions. Hi, Lexi.
20:08
Hello. So how do you find your rugby
20:11
sessions? Do you like them very much?
20:13
Yes, I do. And why is that?
20:16
Because all my friends are kind to me and I like doing rugby a
20:23
lot. Amazing.
20:25
And what kinds of things do you do?
20:26
You do Because it's rugby. But I know you play loads of
20:29
games. Can you give me one example of a
20:31
game you play? I like like catching balls and
20:37
throwing them to my mum and dad and and I like playing rub the
20:42
nest. That sounds a lot of fun, so can
20:45
you tell me about the the catching balls?
20:47
How does that work? You just get a ball and you just
20:52
throw it to someone and they throw it back.
20:54
You have to do it in this hand position with your hands like
21:00
that. That sounds really, really fun.
21:04
And what about Katie Fest? How are you finding today?
21:08
Very fun. It's so good.
21:10
I'm about to have lunch and I bet it's going to be yummy.
21:16
Right, so you're, you're hungry now.
21:18
Yes. Can I ask what are you getting
21:20
for lunch? I think I'm getting a bacon back
21:26
with a egg. That sounds yummy.
21:30
Do you want to share anything else with us, Lexie?
21:35
Yeah, I love doing dancing and it's my thing and I and I love
21:46
school. I like my friends and they're
21:50
kind. Yeah, So what kind of dance do
21:53
you do? I like doing hip hop and like
21:56
different kind of dances. Nice, Can you show us a move?
22:02
Yeah. OK.
22:04
That's my pose. Well done my.
22:08
Pose too. Well done.
22:11
OK Lexi, thank you so much for having a chat with me and I hope
22:15
you enjoy the rest of this beautiful sunny day at Katy
22:18
Fest. I will no problem.
22:21
Thank you. Bye.
22:33
Hi everyone, still here at KT Fest and now I have Alex with me
22:37
who is an independent coach and he's going to tell me all about
22:40
his work and what's his experience of being here at KT
22:43
Fest today. First question to you, is this
22:44
your first year at KT Fest? It is, yes.
22:47
This is my first year. I met Darren late last year at
22:51
the UK Coaching Awards and he told me about Katie Fest and I
22:55
was like, I must come down South and made things happen,
22:58
rearranged things and came down because I wanted to see it in
23:00
person. And it's not disappointed.
23:02
It's phenomenal. It's really, really, really good
23:06
what they've built here. Like he's probably downplayed it
23:09
to you and said, Oh no, there's a lot of work that goes into
23:12
this, which I I've done a few events and I've seen the scale
23:16
of what he's done here. It's brilliant.
23:18
And yeah, huge, huge, huge. Weldon to him, the Katie Fest
23:23
team and everyone that's made this a possibility for all these
23:25
people, it's really good. Absolutely so.
23:28
Alex, you're also a an award winner.
23:31
You won Young Coach of the Year awards.
23:34
So tell me a bit more about your work.
23:36
And also I did I get it right that you come from up north?
23:40
Yes, yes. So.
23:42
Originally from Hull but I'm based in Sheffield now so I have
23:45
my own coaching business but I work closely with Sheffield
23:49
clubs like City of Sheffield and Dan and Hallamshire Harriers.
23:53
So I help bring kids through in those clubs and yeah, just make
23:59
them enjoying athletics. Keep kids in the sport.
24:02
Some of them go on to do competitions, others will just
24:05
be there because they enjoy the sport and as long as everyone
24:08
leaves happy and they're still in the sport as an adult or in a
24:12
sport, they could go play lacrosse, rugby, whatever.
24:16
I'm happy and I've done my job quite well and my coaches have
24:19
done their jobs well. So for you.
24:21
How, how important is it that we have these initiatives and
24:24
people like you supporting neuro divergent and children with
24:29
disabilities and special needs? Oh.
24:33
Yeah, it's vital. Yeah, 100%.
24:35
I mean, you just see an event like this and how everyone's
24:38
just, it's a. Safe space, everyone.
24:40
'S free, everyone's themselves because when I was in sport,
24:44
sometimes you don't always feel or like, especially in schools
24:47
as well, I never felt like I quite fitted in.
24:49
So you always got sort of half a guard up or a mask up.
24:52
Whereas here you can just let it go and just be yourself.
24:56
And sport brings out that in people.
24:58
And I think it's so important that neurodivergence, Sen
25:01
athletes, power athletes, disability, whatever it is, you
25:06
just get involved in sport because it brings a community
25:10
together. It brings people together.
25:11
It brings family together. That that support behind you,
25:14
the coaches, the other athletes, the parents, you're all in the
25:18
same space. You're all in the same
25:19
environment and you can just lean on each other.
25:22
And I mean, yeah, just literally have a stroll around here.
25:25
You see what it does for all these kids.
25:28
See, I think it's hugely important.
25:30
It gives them something to I say look forward to an event like
25:35
this is huge. And then they can go home and
25:38
they go and they go to the sport.
25:39
They train. They've got their space.
25:41
They've got an identity there away from whether it's the ADHD
25:47
or autism, They they can be pushed into a corner sometimes.
25:51
I mean, in the past it was now. It's so much better in society.
25:54
But things like this make it so much better.
25:58
So yeah, kudos to everyone that's in an event and puts
26:01
events on like this around the country, around the world for
26:05
para disability athletes. Yeah, right.
26:08
Is that alright? Yes, that's absolutely fine.
26:11
Thank you so much, Alex, and I hope to see you next year again
26:14
at Katy Fest. Absolutely, yes.
26:15
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
26:16
Thank you. Hi everyone Still.
26:25
At KT Fest now with one of my previous podcast guests, Jaren,
26:31
who is a trustee for KT Fest. And as usual, because it's
26:35
becoming a tradition, he's always a guest on the KT Fest
26:38
special episode. Hi, Darren.
26:41
Hi, Andrea. How are you?
26:42
I'm good, thank you. How are you?
26:44
I'm very well. Thank you very.
26:45
Well, Andy, so how are you feeling?
26:47
About KT Katy Fest today. Wonderful.
26:52
I think just, you know, from where we started in 2024, where
26:57
you joined us there as well, to seeing, to seeing the amount of
27:01
clubs and teams and players that we've got this year is just,
27:06
it's magical. You know, we've got a team
27:08
that's travelled from Italy to join in, We've got the exact
27:13
same values. It's friendly, it's inclusive
27:16
for everybody. Everybody gets to join in and
27:18
play the way they want to play. So it's just great.
27:22
And again, blessed with just fantastic weather, which just
27:26
these the icing on on the cake. So the great thing for me this
27:30
year is I'm not having to be so focused on the overall control
27:35
or looking after the event. So yeah, so it's quite nice to
27:40
step back and actually have the opportunity to enjoy it and
27:42
just, yeah, be immersed in it this year.
27:45
Yeah, absolutely. I.
27:45
Was just telling myself I think I need to come one year just to
27:48
enjoy it and not to interview people.
27:50
Absolutely you should. Definitely.
27:53
Those T-shirts, I love them. Can you tell me a bit more about
27:58
how did the Heinz ketchup became the Katy Fest logo?
28:02
Because they are quite cool. I, I don't know, it's John.
28:05
Already told this story. Have you asked?
28:06
You haven't, right. So no, that's fine.
28:09
So John would probably be the one with the better story.
28:11
Obviously we've got the Katy pale hacker and ketchup was a
28:16
favorite condiment of of Katie's.
28:18
So yes, so so ketchup is involved and obviously we've got
28:22
the wolf as well and it's rugby based, so I'm not too sure
28:27
exactly who designed the emblem, but it works.
28:30
It's fantastic, yeah. And it's, it's nice branding
28:35
that we're able to connect all those, those things together.
28:38
Yeah, it's. Great to see red and yellow
28:41
T-shirts. So what's the difference between
28:42
the red and the yellow? Is there a difference?
28:44
There is so. It's been worked in a way that
28:46
the, the committee members, the, the people that have been
28:51
involved with the set up that probably have more information
28:54
are here. And it's easy for people to
28:57
identify and come and ask us questions if they need to.
29:01
Whereas the yellow T-shirts are for the volunteers, the people
29:04
that have come forward and they're volunteering and are
29:06
helping in different areas during the day.
29:09
So again, it just gives a, a nice focal point for people to
29:13
know who they can go and ask and, and two great colours.
29:17
So why not? Absolutely.
29:19
Not my football favorite colour, but it doesn't matter.
29:24
I just wanted to ask you as well, how has it been developing
29:28
in terms of the inclusive rugby that you've been leading in the
29:33
past few years? How is it going and any plans
29:39
for the near future that we haven't heard of?
29:44
There's always plans you haven't heard of simply because maybe we
29:49
we're not very good at sharing until we have a better idea that
29:51
we can make it work or we can put something in place rather
29:55
than it being a pipe dream. At the moment you know, we've
29:58
got 5 clubs in Oxfordshire, we've got clubs in Warwickshire
30:02
and Gloucester that we're heavily connected with.
30:04
We do a lot of work together. We'd like to do more connections
30:08
and ability for people to turn up and play together which which
30:12
we'll always try and do. You know, we have access to an
30:16
Italian team now, which gives us the opportunity maybe to travel
30:19
abroad at some point in the future.
30:22
And we're starting to see a sort of a trickle effect where more
30:26
people are getting involved. And as we create more
30:28
visibility, it creates more access and more understanding
30:33
that, you know, this doesn't have to be extraordinary.
30:36
You know, it can be ordinary and you know, people can take part.
30:40
So we're I think we're looking forward to potentially a 1/6
30:44
club with an Oxfordshire joining and offering the same provision
30:48
through next season, so beginning September.
30:50
But that's something we're we're working on at the moment.
30:53
And we want to do some content and create some coaching,
30:56
training for coaches and for clubs so that we can we can
30:59
support a wee bit more on a on a deeper level and a functional
31:02
level. So that you know, there's
31:04
there's just that that absolute support to help everybody that
31:08
sounds. Fantastic.
31:09
I think I need to look at the Portuguese rugby clubs as well
31:12
and connect you with them. Absolutely, I'd love a trip to.
31:15
Portugal. So why not?
31:16
Yeah, great. Thank you.
31:17
So. Much Darren, enjoy the rest of
31:19
your day and I'll see you. Well, I'll see you around, but
31:21
I'll see you next year again at Katy Fest.
31:23
I'm sure we'll catch up before. Next year.
31:25
But thank you very much. Yeah.
31:26
Thank you.