“With only one in 15 disabled adults playing sport regularly,
there is a clear need for a change of direction.”
Jennie Price, chief executive, Sport England
Sport England is investing £3.54 million into nine
national disability sports organisations. The funding will
focus on inclusion, integrating the sport on offer to disabled
and non-disabled people, thus creating more sporting opportunities
for all.
“With only one in 15 disabled adults playing sport regularly –
and a decline in that number over the past year – there is a clear
need for a change of direction,” says Sport England’s chief
executive, Jennie Price. “Our investment will create the right
environment for increased participation by disabled people.”
Ultimately, the investment aims to create more schemes like the
British Canoe Union’s integrated Paddleability programme.
This programme promotes and develops canoeing for people with
learning difficulties and physical disabilities. It concentrates on
what individual paddlers can do, rather than what they can’t, and
rewards them with recreational and competitive personal performance
awards. A disability awareness course for coaches and volunteers
complements the programme.
Results from our Active People Survey suggest that this approach
works – the number of disabled canoeing participants has doubled in
the past year.
£1.54m of Exchequer funding will be invested in the English
Federation of Disability Sport, which has recently undergone a
major review and launched a new strategy.
“This welcome increase in Sport England funding will help us and
our member organisations halt and then reverse the decline in
sports participation amongst people with disabilities,” says EFDS
chair, Professor David Croisdale-Appleby. “It is an exciting
development for everyone involved.”
£2m of National Lottery funding is available for applications
from the EFDS and its eight member organisations.
These are:
- British Amputee and Les Autre Sports Association
- British Blind Sport
- CP Sport
- Mencap Sport
- UK Deaf Sport
- Wheelpower
- Dwarf Athletic Association
- Special Olympics
No other organisation is eligible to apply for this money.
A further £8 million of National Lottery funding has been
ring-fenced for investment in sport for disabled people over the
next two years. We are working with the sector to identify specific
barriers to disabled participation and understand how we can best
target this investment to ensure the best results for sport for
disabled people.