HoI Blog

September 2026 

 Schools are back, and so are we!  

September has been a really exciting month for Hackney on Ice as our Mandeville Primary School programme is now officially underway. The kit has been delivered, the children have started using it, and the feedback from the school has been absolutely lovely. Most importantly, the children are loving it.

This is exactly what we hoped for. The first step is always about giving children a fun, safe and exciting introduction to hockey in a way that feels accessible. Seeing that enthusiasm already building at Mandeville has been brilliant.

We are now really looking forward to the ice session in October, followed by the Skate and Learn course after that. For many of the children, this will be their first time stepping onto the ice, and we cannot wait to see their confidence grow.

We are also so pleased that, with the support of Sport England and The National Lottery, we have been able to deliver programmes with two schools rather than one, which was our original plan. That means more children getting the chance to try something new, more families being introduced to ice sports, and more opportunities to build confidence, belonging and community through hockey.

As always, we are hugely grateful to the Better and Lee Valley Ice Centre team for continuing to support Hackney on Ice, believing in what we are trying to do, and helping us find a way to get children onto the ice. We are also very grateful to our volunteers, who continue to give their time, energy and encouragement to help bring the programme to life.

September has also been a creative month for us. Our Ice Pals Huddleby YouTube channel is now up and running, and Season One is fully written up. These are short, fun episodes for the younger children, created to help introduce ice hockey in a gentle, playful and age-appropriate way.

We went looking for children’s ice hockey cartoons and series, and when we couldn’t really find what we were hoping for, we thought... well, we might just have to do that bit ourselves too.

Episode 2 is coming out in the second week of October, and new episodes will be released monthly during the season. If you have little ones at home, or know children who might enjoy a gentle introduction to the world of ice hockey, please do subscribe to the Ice Pals Huddleby channel and follow along with us.

September has been a month of fresh starts, new energy and lots to look forward to. We cannot wait for the next stage.

#HackneyOnIce #GrassrootsSport #IceHockeyFamily #CommunityThroughSport #InclusiveSport #YouthDevelopment #SchoolSport #MandevillePrimary #LeeValleyIceCentre #SportEngland #NationalLottery #IcePalsHuddleby #GrowingTheGame