For the past year, a program has been running out of a Chifley gymnasium helping teach circus skills to high school students with disabilities.
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Run by the organisation Circus Warehouse, the Spin Out program involves students from both The Woden School and Black Mountain School coming in once a week for a specialised session that sees them learn skills such as juggling, balancing and aerials to help with motor skills.
This Friday, however, will be the last of the weekly sessions, with funding for the program set to run out.
Spin Out was funded by a one-off grant of almost $15,000 under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program, which has helped to keep the circus lessons free. Circus Warehouse's artistic director Nathan Anderson said for many of the students who attend the sessions, it's the highlight of their week. "The level of engagement and excitement is quite unique, and it's a really special type of excitement you get from them," he said.
"Circus skills are really unique in terms of physical and mental activities, they're very much about pattern recognition and hand-eye coordination."
While a similar program is run for people with disabilities over 18, the cost of the program is able to be subsidised under the NDIS, while the program for high school students isn't able to be subsidised. The circus' program coordinator Anna Sullivan said the circus skills have been a way for students with disabilities to improve not only their motor skills, but their self confidence.
"There are not many opportunities for young people with complex disabilities to take risks and explore their physical potential," she said.
Circus Warehouse is looking for other ways of funding in order to keep it going after the one-off grant runs out.
"We've been looking into further partnerships that we can make, whether it's through researching whether there are more grants or maybe some other form of private investor," Mr Anderson said. An ACT Health spokeswoman said Warehouse Circus “would be entitled to apply for for future funding if such funding becomes available”.