Welcome to October’s Activity Alliance newsletter. Activity Alliance is the operating name for the English Federation of Disability Sport. This edition features our Impact Report, AGM and Get Out Get Active resources.
Activity Alliance revisits impactful year at virtual AGM
Activity Alliance’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place on Wednesday 6 October 2021. During the meeting, the Activity Alliance team revisited some of the charity’s most impactful and innovative work from the year 2020-21. Read our Impact Report.
New learning resources launched at GOGA annual conference – During the annual GOGA conference, the team launched a set of new resources that capture and present key learnings from the programme over the last four years (2016-2020).Read more on the new resources.
Paralympian Ali Jawad on changing accessibility for health & wellbeing – Britain’s world champion para-powerlifter, Ali Jawad, tells us how his new fitness app, Accessercise, aims to a bridge gap in accessibility across the fitness sector. His aim – to support disabled people’s wellbeing as well as physical health. Read Ali’s interview.
Latest news from the National Disability Sports OrganisationsCatch up on September’s monthly news round-up from the National Disability Sports Organisations. Read the latest NDSO news.
Achieve fairness with us
We are the national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity. We work with others to challenge perceptions and change the reality of disability, inclusion and sport. We rely on generous fundraisers to develop and continue our work.
We are committed to ensuring disabled people can be and stay active. Access exercise advice, workouts, and activity guides to support disabled people. This helps everyone to move more, whether at home, outside or in your local area. Get Active
Our response to latest Sport England Active Lives Survey
Activity Alliance responds to the latest Sport England Active Lives Survey and our concern that there are widening inequalities for disabled people. Read the results and our response.
Andy Atkinson Reports On The First Game of The Season
What a game on Saturday 23rd October our first game of the season and Southport didn’t make is easy for us. For the first five minutes we could not hit a barn door. Of course, we didn’t give up and then the baskets started to drop. The team worked hard throughout and gradually we pulled clear.
A big shout to Joseph Calcott for scoring a 3 pointer. We came out of top but Southport made it very hard work for us.
Calderdale Wheelchair Basketball Club are looking for new players to join their team.
If you’ve already played the game, we are looking for 1 point players 2 point players and 3 point players. But all newcomers are very welcome. A sport wheelchair can be provided.
The easiest way to join us is to pop down to the Inspire Centre at Calderdale College (Francis St, Halifax HX1 3UZ) on a Monday evening when we train from 7pm till 9pm.
Welcome to the latest edition of the Get Yourself Active newsletter. This is our round up of what the Get Yourself Active team and our partners have been up to during the month of September – along with some opportunities, news and insight that we hope will be of interest. You’ll hear more from us next month!
Get Yourself Active offers free co-production training for the sport sector Get Yourself Active is now offering co-production training to national sport and leisure organisations as well as groups in the localities of Haringey, Bristol and Gloucestershire. The training will help organisations gain confidence to co-produce with Disabled people, improving access and reducing barriers to physical activity. If you work in these places, we would love to invite your organisation to learn more about improving opportunities for Disabled people to access physical activity through co-production training. We want to lead change in the social care, health, and sport sectors, to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Disabled people and help them to get active in a way that is right for them. Our team has been working closely with other Disabled people’s user-led organisations (DPULO’s) and the sport sector to embed co-production in practice.We offer training to a range of organisations that deliver physical activity, whether you co-produce activities already or not. As long as you have an interest and would like to do more, we can and want to work with you. Currently, we are providing training both at a national level as well as in three areas – Gloucestershire, Haringey and Bristol in partnership with local DPULO’s. If your organisation is interested in joining a workshop to improve knowledge and confidence around using co-production approaches in practice, please feel free to get in touch and we can discuss this with you in more detail. For more information, please contact Lydia Bone at Lydia.Bone@disabilityrightsuk.org You can find out more here
Your Stories in September Every month we ask our community to share their experiences of getting active in a way that’s right for them, their thoughts on the latest news or what sport and physical activity mean to them. We want to share their stories online to help raise awareness of the different ways of getting active and help other Disabled people feel confident and empowered to take the first steps to a more active life. This month, we loved getting a panel of experts together for National Fitness Day (September 22nd) to answer some of the most frequently asked questions our community has about sport and physical activity.
We’ve covered so much more this month, including:
1. The amazing Louise Hunt took us through her memories of Paralympics past, and what elite sport has given her throughout her life.2. We shared a simple guide to co-production, written by the Get Yourself Active team that share tips and secrets for anyone who wants to introduce co-production to their next activity.3. Our friends at Traverse, shared their report on phase 2 of our involvement with TIF – highlighting all the good work we’ve done so far and what’s next for this important project. We’ve covered so much this month, and you can access all our stories here.
Get Yourself Active developing EDI plan for Tackling Inequalities Fund delivery As part of the Get Yourself Active programme, we are looking at developing an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Delivery Plan. Would your organisation be interested in supporting us?Get Yourself Active and Disability Rights UK aim to increase opportunities and reduce barriers for Disabled people, ultimately striving for equal participation for all. We therefore want to ensure we are doing all we can to recognise, support, and celebrate diversity within the community.We understand that in addition to identifying as a Disabled person, or as someone with a long-term health condition, people will often self-identity with other characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, a faith or belief, and sexual orientation.We want Disabled people from all backgrounds to feel able to participate, thereby ensuring that equal opportunity really is for everyone. We would therefore welcome thoughts and feedback around how we can embed equality, diversity and inclusion, from organisations that support Disabled people/people with long-term health conditions from other under-represented communities to be active. In particular, we are looking across:• Our delivery of the Tackling Inequalities Fund• Our work with the social care workforce and social workers• Embedding co-production within the sport sector• Communications• Policy workIf you think this could be you, or someone else from your organisation, please get in touch and we can either arrange a call or liaise further by email: anna.denham@disabilityrightsuk.org 0203 687 0784 Click here to find out more about the Tackling Inequalities and other Sport England funds
Superhero Series launches new winter events The UK’s one and only Disability sports series for all of us everyday Superheroes. The mission has always been simple for Superheroes Series: create fun, full-throttle mass-participation sports events where Disabled people are in charge and don’t have to worry about cut-off times or equipment restrictions.Founded by Sophia Warner, who saw the issues that Disabled people like her had when they tried to access sports events. Her own experiences combined with meeting many sports lovers over the years, like their wonderful ambassadors, who are crying out for more opportunities are the inspiration for this series.This year the amazing team at Superhero Series are running their first in-person physical event since 2019 and also continuing to run their ever popular at home event. They guarantee both events will be full so we recommend that anyone who wants to take part books now to avoid disappointment. Head to their website to join in the fun! You can read more on our Stories page Active @ Home We understand that many of you may feel more comfortable getting active at home.If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our Active @ Home section on our website. We’ve recently added a range of new accessible content from Videos to Toolkits so you can get active in a way that suits you. The page 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.We want this page to always work for you. If there’s a resource you’d like to see more of – or you have a video of your own you think would be of interest to others in the community, please reach out to the team. Click here for the Active@Home website
Continuining to tackle inequalities Following the release of our interim report, the Get Yourself Active team are still accepting applications for the Tackling Inequalities Fund and are keen to continue our focus on groups underrepreseted in Disabled people’s sport & physical activity. If you work with or are an organisation representing Disabled people from Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority groups, women and girls, lower socioeconomic groups, or any other under-represented group to become more active, we would especially like to hear from you.
Going Above and Beyond to Support RidersThe Barguse Riding Centre based in St Austell, Cornwall is a shining example of best practice and has been awarded the Accessibility Mark by the RDA.
Centre owner, Lisa Todd and her team came up with interesting ways to engage with their regular riders during the pandemic.Accessibility Mark status is awarded to a riding centre that has been approved by the RDA following training and assessment. The close link with the RDA means that it can offer continuous support to the establishment to ensure it provides a first-class experience that aims to be hugely beneficial to all Disabled riders.The accreditation reognises how they supported their riders during a time that was incredibly difficult for everyone.We are so happy for them!
Click here to find out more about the Accessibility MarkSocial Care activity pack available now We are so proud to have launched a new online pack designed for carers, support workers and personal assistants who support Disabled people and people with long term health conditions.It was designed with experts in the social care and physical activity sectors including Durham University, Sport England, Sense, Sport for Confidence, Activity Alliance and Community integrated care. It will help to facilitate further Disabled participation in physical activity by educating and empowering those who care to help Disabled people get active in a way that suits them.The pack looks to address some of the barriers that Disabled people face when they want to get active.
The interactive pack offers practical help, tips and advice that can be used to support Disabled people to participate more in sport and physical activity. It is free and available online for all – designed to be shared and consumed with the sole purpose of breaking barriers to disabled participation in physical activity. Click here to see the pack in full (PDF)Disability Rights Handbook ONLINEWe are delighted to announce we have a new digital edition of the Disability Rights Handbook. Created to support remote working, this enhanced version of our flagship publication is an essential resource for all professional advisers.Our online service sits on the well-established AskCPAG platform and: is fully searchable; allows you to create your own bookmarks, make notes, and cite in different formats; has clickable weblinks; is accessible (works with screen readers); provides regular bi-monthly updates throughout the year; is mobile-ready (you can even read it on your phone); provides access to articles on the AskCPAG website. Subscriptions cost £37 and can be purchased from the CPAG shop. Create a CPAG account if you don’t have one already, then log in and buy your subscription through the online shop.Individuals on benefits can subscribe for 12 months for £19. Contact us for a discount code to use at checkout. Email Tony Stevens to find out more.Buy your subscription to the digital Disability Rights Handbook
Mayor of West Yorkshire praises role of sport in celebration event Find out more Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, paid tribute to the role of grassroots sport at the Yorkshire Homecoming event for our Olympic and Paralympic athletes on Sunday.Speaking on stage at the first direct arena, the first elected mayor of the county saluted the achievements of the athletes in attendance, which included taekwondo star, Bradley Sinden, and Paralympic icon, Hannah Cockroft MBE.The former MP for Batley and Spen described grassroots sport as the “beating heart of our community.”
Women In Sport’s #TimeTogether campaign returns – Find out more Women in Sport has launched #TimeTogether, its national campaign to empower daughters and mums to reconnect and discover new ways to get active together whilst inspiring others to do so too.Following a year of widespread disruption where activity levels have dropped and time online has soared, the charity is calling on daughters and mums to set aside time to reconnect through exercise and activity.
Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-30 aims for a Healthy Barnsley for all – Find out more Barnsley’s Health and Wellbeing Board has produced a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy.The Barnsley Health and Wellbeing Board has produced the borough-wide strategy. It sets out the approach for meeting local people’s and the community’s health and wellbeing needs. The previous strategy, ‘Feels Good Barnsley’, ran from 2016-20.The refreshed strategy is split into three key areas: starting well, living well and ageing well.
Bradford chosen for football pilot – Find out more Football for Peace and the Football Association are co-launching the Mesut Özil Development centre at the University of Bradford alongside Bradford City AFC.The Football for Peace Mesut Özil Centre, sponsored by Innaree, will be hosted at the University of Bradford and run football and life skill sessions at Bradford City AFC’s training ground providing opportunity for South Asian players.
Blog: Learning from listening – Read the blog Our Events and Programmes Manager, Emma Binnersley, blogs about the This Girl Can week that has been taking place in West Yorkshire this week, and how insight played a central part in its creation.“We also had space for girls to write things, and I got quite upset reading some of it. The girls were able to just be really honest News in brief
Rotherham Council is asking for feedback on proposals for two schemes to improve provision for cyclists. The schemes will be delivered by Rotherham Council using central government money, subject to approval of funds. Find out more…
Video games can have similar health benefits to jogging Active video games could be a motivating way for Type 1 diabetics to keep active and help manage their condition. Find out more…
The FA announces a new equality, diversity and inclusion strategy for 2021-24 The new three-year equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, forms an integral part of a long-term commitment to using the FA’s influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination. Find out more…
British Rowing launches Committed to Inclusion Plan The plan sets out a framework for making rowing an inclusive and diverse sport that welcomes and has an offer for everyone. Find out more…
Playforce launches its biggest competition ever with free £10k playground One lucky school or nursery in England and Wales will receive a free playground worth £10,000 courtesy of the UK’s leading playground company, Playforce. Find out more…
Royal seal of approval for the nation’s lockdown coaching heroes Twenty-five lockdown coaching heroes were recognised and celebrated at the UK Coaching Hero Awards ceremony in Leeds, including Josh Gelder from Doncaster. Find out more…
Hooray Calderdale wheelchair basketball team! I’ve been training hard after being off for so long with Corvid. Training restarted few months ago and we are so excited with our first game of the season coming up on 23rd October away to Southport, a new team to the league. So we are excited to meet a new team when we play them.
Calderdale basketball team have been training very hard and we can’t wait for our first game. Our first Home game on 5th December at Calderdale College (Inspire Centre). Tip off is at 14.30 Please come and watch – it’s free to get in.
Welcome to August’s newsletter. This edition features our stakeholder survey, the Paralympic Games and Birmingham 2022.
Help our work by taking part in our stakeholder survey
Working effectively with our members and other stakeholders is important to us and vital as we develop our plans. We want to listen and understand your experience of working with us over the last 12 months. Taking part in our stakeholder survey will help us improve our services, policies, and programmes.
Chief Executive blog: “Enjoy the Games but we can’t rely on a legacy”
The Tokyo Paralympic Games began on 24 August and many will highlight the ‘legacy’ in their speeches and articles. Our Chief Executive, Barry Horne, writes on the Games and the wider barriers that prevent so many disabled people from accessing or enjoying an active lifestyle. He also explores why we cannot wait for and rely on a legacy to solve the issues.
The Tokyo Paralympic Games began last week, with athletes competing across 22 different sports – including swimming, which this week sees several medal events taking place. In this question and answer article, we catch up with six times Paralympics swimmer medallist and our board member, Fran Williamson, on why it has always been more than just sport for her.
Birmingham 2022: The Games is a real springboard for genuine inclusion
In just under a year’s time, some of the greatest athletes in the world will arrive in the West Midlands for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Local schools and networks are getting ready to welcome the Games to their region. Pupils and teachers from Wilson Stuart School in Birmingham are excited to be involved in the build-up. Their Executive Headteacher, Simon Harris, talks to us about his hopes for the Games and their influence on the region to deliver more inclusive sporting opportunities.
Latest news from the National Disability Sports Organisations
The National Disability Sports Organisations (NDSOs) are a good starting point for many disabled people who want to be more active. They provide advice, support and opportunities for people of all ages with specific impairments to take part in sport and activity.
We are the national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity. We work with others to challenge perceptions and change the reality of disability, inclusion and sport. We rely on generous fundraisers to develop and continue our work.
We are committed to ensuring disabled people can be and stay active. Access exercise advice, workouts, and activity guides to support disabled people. This helps everyone to move more, whether at home, outside or in your local area.
Welcome to the Disability Rights UK “Get Yourself Active” Newsletter
Welcome to the latest edition of the Get Yourself Active newsletter. This is our round up of what the Get Yourself Active team and our partners have been up to during the month of August – along with some opportunities that we hope will be of interest. You’ll hear more from us next month!
Get Yourself Active launching new Social Care resource with online webinar
We are really proud to have launched a new online pack designed for carers, support workers and personal assistants who support Disabled people and people with long term health conditions. It was designed with experts in the social care and physical activity sectors including Durham University, Sport England, Sense, Sport for Confidence,Activity Alliance and Community integrated care. It will help to facilitate further Disabled participation in physical activity by educating and empowering those who care to help Disabled people get active in a way that suits them.
Get Yourself Active decided to target carers and support workers because of their roles as essential and trusted messengers to those who they care for. Ultimately, if they understand more about the importance of physical activity and what is on offer then they will be better placed to support a Disabled person to lead a more active life.
The interactive pack offers practical help, tips and advice that can be used to support Disabled people to participate more in sport and physical activity. It is free and available online for all – designed to be shared and consumed with the sole purpose of breaking barriers to disabled participation in physical activity. It also includes interactive worksheets that social care staff and the people they support can use to encourage conversations around the importance of physical activity and how they can make the next steps to live a more active life.
We launched the pack with an informative webinar. The event covered why and how the pack was developed, how it helps social care staff support Disabled people to get active, and what you’ll find inside the pack.
Your Stories in August
Every month we ask our community to share their experiences of getting active in a way that’s right for them, their thoughts on the latest news or what sport and physical activity mean to them.
We want to share their stories online to help raise awareness of the different ways of getting active and help other Disabled people feel confident and empowered to take the first steps to a more active life.
One of this month’s highlights has been launching our Paralympics series. For this we spoke to some our partners and friends for a diverse range of thoughts, opinions and memories of the games:
1. Anna Morell, Media and Communications Manager at Disability Rights UK told us why this years games need to be the start of real change
2. Roy Kimberley, Fit 4 Life at the Disability Resource Centre, shared his thoughts on the enduring legacy of the 2012 Paralympic games
3. Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy at Disability Rights UK touches on her own relationship to the games and what sport and physical activity means to her
And we are finishing the series next week with a final special guest post.. stay tuned for that!
Tackling Inequalities Fund by Sport England – update
Over the summer the Get Yourself Active team has continued to deliver Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund and what a busy summer it has been! Over the past month, we have partnered with several new organisations, bringing the total number of TIF projects that Disability Rights UK has administered funding to 47, supporting over 2,000 participants.
One of the most recent organisations we have partnered with is an East London based charity called Misgav. Misgav is a charity that supports Disabled women in London by providing a haven that offers opportunities for growth, integration, and acceptance. Misgav will be running a series of swimming and dance sessions that we’re excited to be supporting!
Out of the 47 projects DR UK has administered funding to, 16 have now come to an end. It has been wonderful reading the end of project evaluation forms that the organisations have sent us and hearing the positive impacts these projects have had on helping to improve Disabled people’s physical and mental wellbeing. The evaluation forms have also provided us with some extremely valuable learning, highlighting just how important the social element of physical activity is in helping to combat social isolation caused by the pandemic.
To finish, the team is still accepting applications for The Tackling Inequalities Fund and is particularly keen to hear from Disabled Peoples User Led Organisations that support the people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities community. So, if you know of any that may be interested in applying please let us know at tacklinginequalities@disabilityrightsuk.org
We understand that many of you may feel more comfortable getting active at home.
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our Active @ Home section on our website. We’ve recently added a range of new accessible content from Videos to Toolkits so you can get active in a way that suits you. The page 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.
We want this page to always work for you and for that we need your help too. If there’s a resource you’d like to see more of – or you have a video of your own you think would be of interest to others in the community please reach out to the team.
Level Playing Field, a charity that focuses on removing barriers for Disabled people wishing to follow live sports as fans, has revealed the results of its annual fan survey. The organisation believes that attending and engaging with live sporting events has a positive impact on well-being. They work at every level to ensure that Disabled fans can freely access and enjoy live sport.
The report aims to receive greater feedback year on year, helping to drive change towards better access and inclusion for Disabled sports fans. Although the charity has carried out many specific surveys in the past, this is the most comprehensive survey ever, reviewing the matchday experience of Disabled fans. The survey is a first of its kind, with a strong focus on club-specific feedback that will help clubs target specific areas to improve their facilities and services.
Hannah Cockroft was bloodied but not beaten as she defended her Paralympic Women’s 800m T34 title with a dominant victory.
Cockroft, the now seven-time Paralympic champion, raced with a bandaged right hand after an accident during warm up when her hand slipped and went through the spokes of her chair.
The injury did not stop her taking nearly 12 seconds off her Paralympic record from five years ago but her time was just fractions slower than her world best from Switzerland earlier this year. It was an impressive British display, with team-mate Karé Adenegan taking silver and Fabienne Andre coming home fourth.
“I’m absolutely gutted,” Cockroft joked. “I was so close that to world record, I couldn’t have got closer if I’d tried.
“I’m really happy with gold but I’m obviously a bit frustrated I couldn’t quite squeeze under that time but to go close on a rainy day.
“I did that time in Switzerland on the fastest track in the world so to come here and replicate it, I’ve got to be proud.”
Mayor of West Yorkshire praises role of sport in celebration event
Calderdale Wheelchair Basketball Club 