Welcome to the latest edition of the Get Yourself Active newsletter from Disability Horizons UK.
This is our round up of what the Get Yourself Active team and our partners have been up to during the month of June – and some opportunities that we hope will be of interest. More from us next month!
Co-production in Practice
On Wednesday 23rd June, Get Yourself Active Programme Managers Anna Denham and Liddie Bone presented “Co-production in Practice” at the Westminster Insight Disability Digital Conference.
We presented an overview of the key principles of co-production, the benefits, and how to progress up the co-production ladder. We also spoke about co-production in practice in the sport sector, with a particular focus on some of the projects we are delivering within the Get Yourself Active programme: co-production training to the sport sector; our ‘Moving Social Work’ project with Durham University; and the Tackling Inequalities Fund from Sport England (see article below).
The take-away message was that when people who use services are involved on an equal level, in the design, delivery and evaluation of a project or service, it always makes for better outcomes for everyone involved. To find out more about co-production, check out some of our bite-size webinars (button below), or contact lydia.bone@disabilityrightsuk.org
Find out more about Get Yourself Active and Co-production via our webinar series
Tackling Inequalities Fund by Sport England – update
Disability Rights UK (DR UK) is one of the National Delivery Partners for Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF). The fund aims to reduce the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and any widening of inequalities in participation rates in sport and physical activity.
To-date we have funded over 35 projects, via a range of organisations, across England – all of them delivering different kinds of activities. Some of the projects have now completed and we’ve had some great feedback from them about how their projects have supported people to get or keep active, feel less isolated, and more connected during the pandemic.
We are still accepting applications, from User Led Organisations (ULOs), or organisations which can demonstrate a user-led project idea, that supports Disabled people, and/or people with long-term health conditions, to keep active in a Covid-19 safe environment and in a way that is right for them. Projects must be delivered by 31st March 2022. For more details, including how to apply, please contact: tacklinginequalities@disabilityrightsuk.org or call Elliot on 0203 687 0771
Carers & Activity
It was Carers Week on the 7th – 13th June 2021, which aimed to raise awareness of the importance and impact carers have on society. We were asked by London Sport to create a video around how physical activity can help support carers and the people they care for. Programme Manager, Liddie Bone, talked about the importance of increasing carers confidence and knowledge of sport and physical activity both for themselves and the people they care for. In the video, Liddie introduces the guide we have co-created to support an assets-based approach to discussing opportunities and outcomes brought about by physical activity. Watch the video here
Active @ Home
Despite lockdown measures starting to ease, you may feel more comfortable getting active at home for the time being.
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our Active @ Home section on our website. We have collected accessible videos according to which activity you are interested in, which also includes videos from some of our TIF partners. As well as this, we have pages dedicated to other resources, such as worksheets and downloadable resources. Click here for to see the Active@Home section of the website
Sport England – FAQs on the national coronavirus restrictions
Whilst many of us had hoped to see a full easing of restrictions on the 21st June, we continue to be obliged to follow regulations and guidance – including when getting active. It’s therefore important to keep on top of what the current restrictions are when it comes to sport and physical activity.Who knows what July might hold for us all, but in the meantime, Sport England very helpfully keep their FAQs page regulalry updated, so that you can keep abreast of the regulations and good practice, relevant to your sport or activity. Do check it out regularly and when in doubt about any of the activites you are delivering – this could include numbers of people, regulations on space or distancing and hygiene protocols. Check out Sport England’s FAQs page on national restrictions
COVID impacts most acute in deprived and ethnically diverse communities
Grassroots clubs from deprived and ethnically diverse communities face the biggest challenges in returning to organised community activity post-lockdown, research conducted by the Sport and Recreation Alliance reveals.
According to the research, participation opportunities in the most deprived areas of the country are expected to fall by 48% compared with just 2% in the least deprived areas.
As well as this, those serving ethnically diverse, deprived or urban communities also consistently reported needing greater financial assistance to reinstate active opportunities – £5,000 more on average than those working in other areas. Read more about the findings here
Calderdale Wheelchair Basketball Club 