The Sheffield Steelkings Para Ice Hockey Club has entered into a significant collaboration with the Cash for Kids programme, reinforcing its commitment to inclusion, accessibility and community engagement through ice hockey. The Steelkings, a club based in Sheffield offering para ice hockey opportunities for people with lower-body disabilities and impairments, have long emphasised the importance of creating sporting access for all — the new partnership takes that mission further.
Cash for Kids is a UK-wide children’s charity which aims to “help the children that need it most” by supporting young people who are affected by poverty, illness, neglect or who have additional needs. The partnership enables the Steelkings to channel support from Cash for Kids into initiatives which broaden the club’s outreach to children and young people with disabilities.
Through the arrangement, the Steelkings are utilising grant funds, equipment investment and community outreach activities to reduce barriers to entry for para ice hockey. The club’s regular “taster” sessions and junior-level training opportunities benefit directly. For example, the Steelkings have “learn to sledge” sessions which allow junior participants to borrow equipment, helping newcomers to try the sport without the cost-prohibitive barrier of purchasing specialised sledges or adaptive gear. With support from Cash for Kids, the club is able to expand these opportunities.
This partnership supports key objectives: fostering physical activity, mental-wellbeing and social inclusion among children with impairments; enabling participation in an elite-level sport; and ensuring that the local community in Sheffield can access adaptive sport pathways. The Steelkings’ own narrative emphasises that once players get onto the ice, “all of their daily struggles are forgotten” and they enjoy freedom of movement and team-sport participation.
For the region, the collaboration has a multiplier effect: it aligns sport-for-good with disability-sport development, and it opens up routes for young people from under-represented groups in ice hockey. Cash for Kids funding helps cover specialised adaptive equipment (such as adjustable helmets, sledges), coaching costs and outreach events. In turn, the Steelkings deliver inclusive programmes, raise the profile of para ice hockey and strengthen community ties in Sheffield and beyond.
In summary, the Sheffield Steelkings’ partnership with Cash for Kids represents a strategic alliance between a para ice hockey club and a children’s charity to advance inclusive sport. It enables the club to reduce cost-barriers, increase opportunities for children and young people with disabilities, and embed sport-for-good within the local ice hockey ecosystem. The result is enhanced access to adaptive hockey, stronger community engagement and a broader pathway for participation.