21 May 2012

Can Paralympics improve disabled sport access?

With 100 days to go until the Paralympics, one charity tells Channel 4 News children with disabilities in this country still have “huge problems” accessing sport.

With 100 days to go until the Paralympics, Channel 4 News finds British children with disabilities still have “huge problems” accessing sport.

Only one in six disabled adults plays sport regularly, compared to one in three non-disabled adults.

Following London’s successful 2012 bid for the games, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport produced a document vowing to “boost participation of disabled people in sport and physical activity”. Currently 17.6 per cent of disabled people play sport at least once a week up from 15.1 per cent in 2005/6 when the Olympic bid was won.

The British Paralympic Association hopes to improve on that with a strategic plan launched on Tuesday that outlines goals for the next five years to highlight the power of sport to inspire change in people’s lives.

The ‘Maximising Momentum’ plan considers the impact London can have on disability sport, what outcomes should be targeted as a result, and what role the association should play with partners in assisting their delivery.

Passionate about sport

“I am passionate about London 2012 and the positive impact it can have not just for our elite athletes but at every level of disability sport,” said Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of the UK’s most successful Paralympians and six-time winner of the London Wheelchair Marathon.

The plan outlines five strategic priorities, the values that the organisation will embrace and the partnership approach that will be key to maximising the momentum.

“We are ruthlessly focused on our preparations for 2012, we must also be ready to maximise the opportunities that will flow from the games,” Tim Hollingsworth, the association’s chief executive, said.

‘Huge’ problem accessing sport

“I don’t believe we should be talking now about legacy from the Paralympics in London – that suggests maintaining what we already have. Instead, we should talk about momentum, about what more can be done than previously on the back of it,” he said.

Ruth Owen, Chief Executive of Whizz-Kidz, told Channel 4 News that despite London hosting the Paralympics, children with disabilities still have a “huge problem” accessing sport.

“I think it’s fantastic London has won the Paralympics and Olympics and I think it’s a great opportunity to raise awareness – it will be a hugely missed opportunity if we don’t grasp that and make sporting facilities accessible to disabled children and young people.

It is an uncomfortable truth that disabled people enjoy fewer opportunities to get involved in sport. Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price

“There’s still much more we can do … children who come to Whizz-Kidz don’t have the opportunities through school and local communities and we need to improve that moving on from the Paralympics.”

Barriers to taking part include lack of specialist equipment, transport issues, low self-confidence and poor information about the opportunities available.

‘Maximising momentum’

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) also used today’s 100 day milestone to unveil a five year vision to boost the take up of disabled sport and build on London’s Paralympic games.

Described as “Maximising Momentum”, the organisation said it wanted to boost grassroots sports provision and “inspire a better world for disabled people”.

Tim Hollingsworth, the BPA’s chief executive, told Channel 4 News that he did not believe the current financial climate would affect his overall mission.

“It is going to be difficult, because everyone is finding it difficult,” he said.

“What I think we all hope, though, is that there is a huge amount of excitement, a huge amount of increased awareness as a result of London. London will be a spectacular Paralympic games.

“So what we’re trying to show, not just financially, but in terms of ambition and scale and strategy is that people feel there is real momentum behind the Paralympics as a result of having a home games.”

Fund to encourage participation

To mark 100 days until the Paralympics an £8m fund has been launched to encourage people with disabilities to take up sport.

Individuals and organisations will be able to bid for between £10,000 and £1m to turn their ideas into reality.

Sport England’s chief executive, Jennie Price, said: “It is an uncomfortable truth that disabled people enjoy fewer opportunities to get involved in sport. Sport England is committed to changing that, and making it easier for disabled people to fit sport into their daily lives.

“The Paralympic Games will put the sporting achievements of disabled people in the spotlight as never before. I want to make sure that Sport England’s £8m lottery investment is a catalyst to help more disabled people get involved.”

The Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, said: “We want more disabled people to have the opportunity to play sport. In the year the Paralympics come home, this £8m investment will help breakdown some of the barriers to participation and make sport a more viable choice for disabled people.”