Taxonomy term

As the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games start we would like to extend our very best wishes to the athletes and the support team behind Team GB (and in the coming weeks ParalympicsGB) as the spotlight of Olympic and Paralympic sport shines upon them.

It is worth remembering that during the 2018-22 cycle the winter sports and athletes were particularly impacted by the resultant post-Brexit travel restrictions and also (how soon we forget!) by the Covid pandemic.

UK Sport and the British Olympic Association have an ambitious target this year and I think, and hope, that at this iteration of the ‘winters’ we will see our athletes and sports realise their aspirations as they showcase the rich and diverse sporting offer we have in England and across the UK.

Proudly supporting our talent

At Sport England we are extremely proud of the role that we play in supporting partners and thereby enabling aspiring athletes in winter sports to explore and fulfil their potential, but what does that support look like and why does it matter?

Starting with the second question first, let’s address the elephant in the room – why winter sports?

There is a rather lazy misconception that we don’t have winter sports facilities and that those sports are exclusively the pursuit of people from affluent backgrounds – the truth, like many things in life, is much more nuanced that that.

Starting with the sliding sports (bobsleigh, skeleton or luge to name a few) there is an established track record of athletes coming from the British Army - shout out at this point to our colleagues at British Army Sport which continues to be a key partner of and contributor to the UK High Performance System - or from track and field athletics.

These athletes often transition in to sliding sports (or should it be pushing sports!) through established UK Sport-led talent ID programmes such as Find Your Greatness, and those sports have brilliant pathways to take them all the way to the podium.
 

The skating sports are typically populated with athletes who started their careers at ice rinks and ice centres scattered across the major ‘second cities’ of England.

Funding centres across the country

The National Ice Centre in Nottingham has long since been the base for aspiring short track speed skaters and a great partnership between Sport England, Nottingham City Council and recently British Ice Skating, who received Sport England talent funding into their pathways.

Other English rinks feature prominently in the athletes’ biographies and it was great to see Sheffield hosting the recent Figure Skating European Championships as part of the build up to the Games.

English Snowsport athletes often start their careers at outdoor ‘dry’ (not so much in the rain!) ski slopes, which continue to be popular and affordable community sport facilities, enabling athletes such as the Summerhayes sisters or, for Milan-Cortina, veteran James ‘Woodsy’ Woods (who will compete at his fourth Olympic Winter Games) to progress from Sheffield Ski Village to the X-Games podium.  

Arguably Great Britain's most successful ever Alpine skier, Dave Ryding will contest his fifth Olympic Winter Games, having purportedly earned his stripes at a dry ski-facility up at Pendle Ski Club, a member-owned club located in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire.

Sport England investment supports the talent pathways in a range of winter sports to ensure that performance pathways in these sports are accessible and inclusive, well-led and managed, and that they offer the support needed to allow our aspiring young people to progress to the very highest level.

Through our funded partners, most prominently SportsAid, we also fund programmes such as Backing The Best and the TASS programme that collectively provide direct financial and athlete support services, such as strength and conditioning, physiotherapy and sports medicine services to enable our players to be fit, healthy and optimally prepared for graduation into high performance programmes and success at major events and games.

As an example, of the Team GB class of 2026 in Milan-Cortina, at least 10 athletes (including Dave ‘The Rocket’ Ryding) have received Sport England support through TASS - five of which are current TASS-supported athletes enabling them to be in the very best of health as they embark on one of the biggest events of their careers.

Finally, as we look ahead to the winter Paralympics, we could not be prouder of the English athletes who will represent PGB as the spotlight shines on them from 6 March, I am particularly looking forward to seeing trailblazing English wheelchair curlers: Yorkshire’s Jo Butterfield, Newcastle’s Jason Kean, Wigan’s Karen Aspey and Northumbria’s Stewart Pimblett.

Collectively, they will make history as the first English curlers ever to take to the ice at the ‘winters’.

Their inspirational journey (look them up, their stories are remarkable) was enabled through an innovative partnership with British Curling, which saw Sport England invest in performance pathways in the sport for the very first time.

Best of luck to all our athletes. No need to ask you to make us proud. We already are.
 

Imagine you’re missing out on talent, innovation and fresh perspectives, but not because they don’t exist, but because your systems weren’t built with them in mind.

That’s the quiet cost of inaccessibility in the workplace.

But with any challenge comes an opportunity and, in this case, it’s to realise that inclusive organisations perform better because they’re more adaptable, more trusted and more representative of the communities they serve.  

And with nearly one in four people in the UK identifying as disabled, this isn’t a niche issue – it’s a mainstream one.

So, just as the EmployAbility Guide highlights: “Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do;  it’s a smart business decision.”

Our mission now goes further and we promote sector-wide change by highlighting career pathways for disabled people, supporting inclusive education and recruitment and creating accessible cultures – physically and digitally.

From curiosity to commitment: my journey

As a partially blind person, I was excited – and curious – about training as a fitness instructor through the InstructAbility programme.

In 2014, I became the YMCA Fit’s first visually-impaired Exercise to Music trainee.

That milestone launched a career delivering audio-described dance fitness for blind groups, accessible fitness sessions for diverse audiences across the sector, and corporate energisers and team-building services.

I’m now an Exercise referral specialist and a member of the EmployAbility Strategic Partners Group.  

Why digital accessibility matters

I believe that inclusion must go beyond access to physical spaces and it must include the digital world, too, because we’re living in a digital age and accessibility is vital across the entire journey – from recruitment to training, development and as a constant on daily tasks in the workplace.

Accessible formats for blind and visually impaired people include Word documents and websites built to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), enabling screen-reading software to convert text into speech.

While I’ve had great support from training providers, some newer online platforms introduced unintended barriers, such as being incompatible with screen-reading software.

The good news? These issues are easily addressed through accessibility audits and expert scripting, making the platforms usable again.

You don’t need to scrap your systems but you do need to review them, so start where you are, get an audit, plan for access in your budgets and keep moving forward.

Why this work matters

In the UK, 16.1 million people, that is 24% of the population, are disabled yet only 54.2% of working-age disabled adults are employed, compared to 82% of non-disabled people, causing a 27.9 percentage point gap.

In our own sector, the gap is more acute with just 9% of disabled people saying they’ve had the opportunity to coach or deliver sport and physical activity, compared to 24% of non-disabled people.

At the same time, disabled adults are almost twice as likely to be physically inactive as non-disabled adults (39.5% vs. 20.2%).  

Good work is already happening, will you join in?

I’ve experienced inspiring commitment from training providers like YMCA Fit and dance fitness brands like Clubbercise and SOSA Dance Fitness, who’ve trained and certified instructors with a wide range of disabilities.

Employers using Guide C have already improved our sector through an increased level of confidence among the staff, made recruitment more inclusive and enhanced feedback and onboarding processes.

Let’s connect!

Our free guides are here to support you, your team and your workplace. You don’t need to get it all right immediately, but taking steps forward is what matters.

We also want to say that we’re here for you and since Activity Alliance is currently acting as secretariat for the group, you can contact Dawn Hughes, their strategic partnerships advisor, and/or their workforce lead, Helen Newberry if you’ve got any questions, want to highlight any barriers or give us your feedback.

Let’s have a conversation, swap ideas, compare notes, celebrate your wins, tackle the challenges and keep learning together.
 

For more than 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of being part of a partnership between Sport England and the National Trust that’s been quietly but powerfully changing lives.

This is more than just getting people outdoors – it’s about creating real, lasting opportunities for everyone, especially those who need it most, to connect with nature and feel the benefits of being active in green and blue spaces.

Being outdoors and connected to nature has demonstrable health and wellbeing benefits.

Studies have shown impact such as lowering stress levels and reducing cortisol and inflammation, which are increasingly seen as factors in depression, autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Our work at the National Trust is shifting towards a more ‘place-based’ approach, but what exactly do we mean by that?

Rather than parachuting in with one-size-fits-all solutions, we’re considering what’s already happening in local communities, at National Trust properties and on their land, and finding ways to make those spaces more accessible, more welcoming and more connected to the people who live nearby.
 

Whilst we consider how to be more locally responsive, we continue to work at a national scale on initiatives such as improving navigational and orientation signage to ensure paths are easy to find and follow, and refining path-grading methodologies to better reflect the diversity of users.

This work focuses on describing the path itself rather than the person using it and it goes in line with the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) principles and the Equality Act.

What I love about our work is that it’s about making meaningful connections between the land and the community.

It’s not just about trails or facilities – it’s about creating safe, natural, traffic-free environments where people can walk, cycle, run, paddle or simply be.

I’ve seen firsthand how many barriers can stand in the way of people accessing the outdoors.

Things like fear of getting lost, finding themselves in unfamiliar terrain, safety concerns, challenges around travelling to our places or just not knowing where to start.

We’ve worked hard to design experiences that support people who are new to the outdoors and it’s making a real difference.

For that we’ve been able to capitalise on the strength of the National Trust brand.

Our properties are trusted spaces, with essential facilities like cafés and toilets, which makes them perfect for families, groups or individuals who might be taking their first steps into nature.

The multi-use trails that have been developed are a great example. They’re accessible, enjoyable and range from three to 5km, which makes them ideal for walking, wheeling, running or cycling.

And the impact has been incredible!

We’ve seen a 23% rise in visits from people of ethnic backgrounds, which indicates we’re reaching new audiences and helping more people feel like they belong in these spaces.

This is fantastic news since we strive to improve the experience for communities that often find barriers to exploring the great outdoors.

I’ve also been inspired by the way this work helps those who may need deeper support.

Whether it’s supported paddling sessions, inclusive activities for families with SEN, or community-led cycling groups like the Muslim Cycle Sisters at Osterley, there’s a real commitment to inclusion.

And it’s not just about participation but about representation, too.

The Trust is working with partners to tackle underrepresentation in the outdoor workforce, for example through our walking leaders programme, which is such an important step toward long-term change.

Nature restoration and biodiversity play a big part in our work.

Our infrastructure developments are designed to improve visitor experience and get people active whilst protecting some of the most sensitive nature areas.

We are strengthening our knowledge and skills in designing experiences that deliver real, meaningful and lasting nature connection to inspire more people to care for nature and their local environment.

Looking ahead

As I reflect on the past decade, I feel proud of what we’ve achieved and even more hopeful about what’s to come.

Our partnership with Sport England shows that when we focus on people, place and purpose, we can create spaces that are not only beautiful, but truly inclusive and life-enhancing.

And that’s something worth building on.

There has never been more opportunity for young people with a disability to access and thrive in cricket.

In my short time as Chair of Lord’s Taverners, I’ve been privileged to witness the transformative power of our disability cricket programmes, not just for the young people who take part, but for their families, schools, and communities.

These experiences aren’t just inspirational, they are life-changing.

The need for our work has never been greater. That’s why I’m proud to be leading an organisation committed to making cricket the UK’s most inclusive team sport. And few moments capture that ambition more powerfully than the recent Disability Cricket Day at Lord’s.

The event closed with history being made: the first ever international disability cricket fixture played on the main ground at Lord’s, a mixed-disability T20 between England and India. It was a moment that united grassroots passion with elite aspiration, showing every young person in attendance what’s possible.

This remarkable alignment – national youth competition and elite international showcase, side-by-side – is a beacon for what sport can be when inclusion is placed at its heart. It’s a demonstration of the pathway that exists and is strengthening year-on-year for cricketers with a disability, and a reminder of the importance of representation. Because when young people see others like themselves competing at the highest level, they begin to believe: this is for me, too.

The success of the day was only possible because of the strong partnership between the ECB, MCC, and the Lord’s Taverners – a spirit that reflects Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy. Together, we’re not only creating unforgettable moments; we’re laying the foundations for long-term change.

Cricket – like all sport – holds the power to change lives. But that power is only realised when it’s accessible to all. Too many young people with a disability still face barriers: lack of opportunities, inaccessible environments, or simply not seeing themselves reflected on the field. The message they hear can all too often be: this isn’t for you.

At the Lord’s Taverners, we are here to change that.

And thanks to events like Disability Cricket Day – and the partnerships that make them possible – we’re showing that our sport can lead the way in making inclusion not just a principle, but a reality.
 

People might not expect Hazel, who is blind and living with complex disabilities, to enjoy skiing – but it’s an activity she absolutely loves! 

Hazel is a lot of fun – she’s got an amazing imagination and the warmest smile. However, because she’s blind and disabled, there have been times in her life when Hazel has been isolated and hasn’t had any opportunities to join in activities.

Amongst the many barriers preventing people like Hazel from being active is the lack of knowledge within the sports workforce to ensure disabled people feel included in activities.

A key figure for disabled people 

The 2023-24 Annual Disability and Activity Survey by Activity Alliance shows that the number of disabled people agreeing that ‘The activity leader met my needs’ has continually decreased over the past four years.

The role of the coach is crucial to the experience that a participant has in sport and physical activity.

We know it’s challenging for any coach to ensure their session is engaging for everyone in their group, so imagine working with a group of participants with complex disabilities, like Hazel.

In addition to adapting to their skill level, a coach must also consider their level of vision and hearing, their mobility and their understanding of the task.

They must ensure that both the environment and their own approach are tailored so that each participant can actively participate in the activity.

This requires changes to how a coach prepares, communicates and interacts.
 

It's also important to reflect on the idea of ‘active participation’.

Any coach can deliver an ‘off-the-shelf’ session but it takes real commitment, care and creativity to develop opportunities which ensure people with complex disabilities can engage meaningfully and appropriately – in a way which supports them to achieve all the outcomes they want to achieve by being active.

Whether it’s their physical, mental or social wellbeing they are trying to improve, it’s never been more important for a coach to ensure they are meeting their participant’s desired outcomes.

Sense’s Potential and Possibility research found that 26% of people with complex disabilities report their health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, compared with 9% of the general population.

In response to this data, we are determined to ensure that no-one is left on the sidelines.

We believe that everyone, no matter how complex their disabilities, should have access to high-quality opportunities that help them achieve the outcomes they desire.

Our 'person-centred' approach

That’s why our recently launched Complex Disabilities in Sport training has been designed to help coaches understand the outcomes people want to achieve from sport and physical activity and design their sessions in a way which supports them to do so.

The training was developed following consultation with Sense’s own coaching networks, as well as the wider sport and physical activity sector, who identified training on ‘How to plan sessions which are person-centred’ and in a face-to-face format, as the most desirable learning scenario.

Following plenty of piloting and tweaking, we’re now in the process of delivering these three-hour, practical and theory-based workshops across the country, targeting sport and physical activity providers who have a real commitment to utilising their newly learnt skills with a complex disabilities audience.

And we’re really pleased with the results so far, with coaches reporting on average a 30% increase in their confidence in coaching people with complex disabilities, post-workshop.

It’s safe to say that Hazel’s positive experience with skiing would not have been possible, had instructor James not taken a person-centred approach to delivery.

By understanding Hazel’s need to take things slowly, allowing her to explore her surroundings and feel supported, James created an environment in which Hazel slowly started to feel more comfortable.

We hope that over the remainder of our Sport England funded ‘Active Lifestyles’ programme and beyond, we can continue to build the confidence of the coaching workforce, allowing more people, like Hazel, experience what her key worker Tracey describes as ‘a real sensory explosion’.
 

I’ve lost count of the times people assume better inclusion means compromise or something that’s expensive, difficult or time-consuming. It doesn’t.

What it really means is changing how we think and design spaces, activities and experiences so they are built with everybody in mind.

It also means not asking large parts of society to work around barriers that shouldn't be there in the first place, because 24% of the population are part of the disabled community and, what many don’t realise, is that any one of us could join them at any point in our lives.

At the heart of Accessible Outdoors Month is a simple message: being active outdoors should be for everybody, in whatever way works for each person.

That could mean simply stretching in a quiet garden and moving through a local park, or taking on something more high-energy like skateboarding or climbing.

The campaign returns this July for its second year as part of ParalympicsGB’s Every Body Moves, powered by Toyota.

Closing the gap for an accessible outdoors

Too often disabled people are left out of the picture when it comes to getting active, particularly outdoors.

There are different reasons for this: the terrain’s wrong, the facilities don’t meet the community’s needs, signposting isn’t accessible or access just wasn’t a consideration. 

When access isn’t considered, people are excluded. Not because of their ability, but because the environment wasn’t built with them in mind.

According to Activity Alliance's research, only 44% of disabled people say it’s easy to access outdoor spaces, compared with 78% of non-disabled people.

And yet, around three-quarters of disabled people want to be more active and many of them want to do that outdoors: on beaches, in parks or through forests or towpaths, to name just a few.

So the demand is real but it’s not always being met.

Accessible Outdoors Month is our way of showing how, together, we can start to close that gap between demand, provision and uptake.

It’s a social media-led campaign platforming real people and real experiences that launched in 2024 with community-led content showing accessible beach days, inland water sports, inclusive cycling, adaptive mountain biking and all-terrain wheelchair walks.

We didn't use glossy ads on our campaign, but simply honest, joyful stories rooted in lived experience.

Given the strong link between physical activity and improved whole-school outcomes – from embedding essential life skills to broadening horizons and helping young people build a positive, lifelong relationship with movement – we support plans for this more concerted effort around the school sport agenda.

The announcement builds on the work the government is already doing with partners including the Youth Sport Trust and ourselves to boost participation, having already invested £100m to upgrade sports facilities back in March this year.

We strongly believe that this new approach to school sport should build on the existing strengths, assets, and resources of the current school sport system.

We look forward to working with government to bring this new approach to life, sharing the insights from the recent School Games Organisers Network Review (whose Objective A report will be published towards the end of the month), shaped by the contributions and time of many colleagues across the school sport landscape.

I've always loved enjoying the outdoors, being active and healthy, and throughout my life sport has had a profound impact on me.

In my 20s I had a series of strokes that left me unable to walk, but keeping active helped me heal and gave me back my identity, so I believe that sport contributes to lots of people healing when suffering life-changing injuries or illnesses.

I've been in Paralympic sport since 2012 with athletics, triathlon and cycling, and I’ve also been involved in ultra-cycling, in which athletes' endurance is tested by cycling distances of at least 200 km/125 miles.

One of the central views of social work is the key value and importance of everyone having access to the same opportunities to live full, active and healthy lives, regardless of anyone’s circumstances and background.

In the spirit of this rights-based approach and as we celebrate Social Work Week, I wanted to highlight the Moving Social Work (MSW), a training programme that harnesses the skills and values of social workers to support the health, wellbeing and human rights of people with disabilities.

MSW focuses on increasing physical activity and the benefits this generates for the mind and body, actively creating resources and co-produced strategies for new and established social workers to adopt as part of their practice.

The initial research findings (our study will continue through 2025 and until the end of next year) indicate that disabled people want to have more conversations about physical activity with health and social care professionals, including social workers.

Our ongoing analysis also indicates that social workers are trusted because they are empathic, a reliable source of information and knowledgeable of individual circumstances.

They also tend to spend more time with the people they support and are best placed to advocate for the upholding of their human rights.

That said, our research showed that conversations in relation to improving physical activity can be lacking, so this is where MSW can and has helped.

What kind of programme are we talking about?

MSW is an education programme designed to encourage social workers to speak about physical activity to disabled people and other groups.

The programme is evidence-based and has been co-produced with multiple partners – including Sport England's funding and Durham University, who's leading on the training delivery and research – while always keeping disabled people’s needs at the front and centre of it all.

Moving Social Work is embedded in the Government Disability Strategy (2021) and is a real opportunity to tackle health inequalities.

Listening to the research

Social workers are highly trusted professionals and disabled people welcome conversations with them about physical activity.

Organisational leaders also agree that these key workers can play a vital part in advocating physical activity – but why?

We know that physical activity improves wellbeing and mental health, but on top of that it’s also an excellent way of upholding the Care Act (2014) about the care and support for adults and for those looking after vulnerable people.

Another benefit associated with being physically active is that moving helps tackle health inequalities and social challenges, including loneliness, substance abuse, crime, unemployment and community involvement (to name just a few!) showing the adaptability of the training throughout social work practice.

Since 2018, we’ve worked with Sport England towards a healthier, more inclusive society.

Becoming a system partner in 2022 has allowed us to develop a more direct relationship with local communities, which in turn has help us create stronger partnerships and drive large-scale impact.

Through collaboration, Beat the Street evolved from a game into a community tool, improving public health through cross-sector partnerships and local engagement.

Beat the Street allows partners to engage across a community by working closely with people, local organisations and assets, such as parks and canals, to make a shift in behaviours and attitudes in order to deliver positive, lasting change.

At its core, Beat the Street is a free, real-life game designed to encourage people to move more, explore their local areas and connect with their communities.

Its purpose is to connect people to each other and their place and it works as a major event where the participants are the residents – whether these are adults or children.

We also believe that health is created in and by communities and that our role is to create the supportive conditions to enable it. 

We use our Sport England system partner funding to champion policy asks to improve health through movement, using insight to make the case and working closely with many partners to build a unified voice.

For 2025, our policy priorities are underpinned by these beliefs and the vision for a better future that must include children’s voices.

In a nutshell, our policy focus includes:

• creating healthy childhoods
• activating healthy and engaged communities
• designing healthy places
• nurturing thriving, natural environments
• walking, wheeling and cycling towards an active nation.

Driving systemic change at scale

We use our delivery funding to unlock local funding and support from public health, transport and integrated care board partners for places. 

With at least 10% of the local population taking part, Beat the Street builds a narrative on how good health could be, with everyone working together with a clear purpose, using the programme as a platform to prototype new ways of working in a place.

The evidenced behavioural change continually benefits the participants well beyond the intervention, with positive outcomes lasting at least two years and possibly longer.  

There is so much positive activity already happening in place, but it often is in siloes.

We now see that Beat the Street’s galvanising mechanics bring partners together, supporting policy and professional practices.

The programme also surfaces rich data and marginalised voices tackling structural inequalities by working with local institutions and assets, plus it enables people to act in ways that strengthen them both as individuals and their roles in the community.  

We understand that Beat the Street's real impact is in social connection, increased feelings of belonging and trust across a place.

Ultimately, the programme has shown that even small, sustainable steps toward active living can have lasting impacts on community health and social connectedness.

This sustainability manifests itself in three key ways:

• Shared purpose – there is value and energy in bringing partners and community together, developing collective purpose.
• Insight-led direction - using insight to inform next steps.
• Behavioural change - building trust, sense of belonging and agency for citizens that enable small changes in daily behaviour, now and in the future.

We're really proud of what the programme has achieved so far. To date, Sport England’s Beat the Street has engaged 754,000 participants.

The programme has:

• achieved 10% of population engagement on average, comprising 48% adults and 52% children.
• reached a third of participants (27%) belonging to areas of Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 1 and 2 (the two most deprived areas in a classification of five areas in England). Out of the people reached, 69% are women and 19% have disabilities or a long-term health condition.
• engaged with 1042 schools, 1133 community groups and workplaces.

In terms of behavioural change, the data from 31,461 matched pairs across 31 Sport England games shows an average 9% decrease in adult inactivity and 7% reduction in proportion of less active children.

However, the greater change was seen in adults with a disability or long-term conditions, showing an 18% decrease of inactive adults and, for girls, a 9% decrease in less active.

But the impact goes beyond just physical activity as Beat The Street fosters social interaction, strengthens community ties and improves mental wellbeing.

We will also continue to work across the country, including a return to Burnley for the third time as they use Beat the Street to drive forward their collective Outdoor Town vision.

It’s been an incredible journey and eight years in it feels like we are only getting started!
 

When looking at creating inclusive opportunities for disabled people in our sector a lot of focus falls on participation, but fairness for this group of people applies to its workforce too.

For years our Annual Disability and Activity Survey has shown disabled people as underrepresented in our sector’s workforce. 

Understanding what needs to change 

The 2023-24 edition revealed that disabled people are half as likely to see ‘people like me’ working in sport and physical activity compared to their non-disabled peers, and that only 9% of disabled people agreed they have the opportunity to become a coach or take on a role in delivering sport or physical activity compared to 24% of non-disabled people.

Off the back of these concerning figures, we commissioned a research project to explore the barriers and enablers for disabled people to work in our sector.

The final report has now been published on our website and is fascinating reading for anyone working in sport and physical activity.

Initial findings showed that there are limited sources of data and that most of the insights were very high level, identifying barriers such as negative attitudes towards disabled people. 

However, the evidence to help understand these in more detail was limited and while national disability employment statistics delved into specific impairments, these were not broken down to reflect the reality in our sector.

Some research considered other marginalised groups in the sport and physical activity workforce, but did not take an intersectional perspective and treated each identity in isolation.

Coverage of enablers and barriers to disabled people’s participation in the sport workforce was limited, tending to offer a wider commentary reflecting statistics, rather than personal perspectives of disabled people. Only a handful of sources provided some insights, which helped us structure the primary research design and interview questions.

Two of these were Aspire’s EmployAbility Guides and ukactive’s Everyone Can initiative.

Based on initial findings we decided to carry out in-depth interviews to understand the barriers and enablers experienced by disabled people in the professional world, and to develop recommendations that would make a real difference.

Interviewees shared personal stories with examples of both good and bad practices, including a personal trainer who had to hear that the reasonable adjustments put in place to help them do their job were perceived as ‘unfair’ by a colleague.

The need for further change

Accessible application processes, upfront information about roles or inclusive approaches to interviews (for example, choice of video or in-person) made a real difference and gave many the opportunity to consider a role.

To truly understand the reality of employment for disabled people in sport and physical activity, the report should be viewed as a whole and organisations should take a person-centred approach to ensure people can apply and remain as part of our sector’s workforce.

We published three key headline recommendations:

• Adopt a ‘flexible by default’ approach to job roles. Normalise adaptations and consider flexibility beyond whether the employee could choose their hours to include how adjustments could be made across the wider team. For example could the disabled employee do certain tasks while a non-disabled colleague picks up others?

• Provide advice and guidance for employing disabled people. There is a clear need for an effective source of advice and guidance for employers to turn good intentions into action and organisations should aim to create a culture that values - and is informed by - diverse voices and experiences.

• Proactively identify and remove barriers that exist at all stages of the 'work journey'.
  In our research we tried to break down this path into different stages to explore barriers and enablers at each point, but it became clear that many challenges recurred throughout. Employers need to provide clear information about their available role using diverse and suitable communication platforms. They need to learn continually and listen to their disabled staff continually. A good way to achieve this is employing disabled consultants to identify and remove barriers through an inclusive culture.

Organisations who were seen to be committed to inclusion appealed to participants, but the main conclusion to take from the report is clear: there is still a lot of work to be done in creating equal opportunities for all and there’s an urgent need for the sport and physical activity sector to address recruitment and retention strategies.

We hope that in highlighting real-life experiences we can shine a light on both the good, the bad and on the way forward.

There is undoubtedly a desire in the sector to ensure disabled people do not have to overcome barriers to enter the workforce and we firmly believe that this piece of research could be a key tool to unlocking those opportunities.

The EmployAbility Leisure project was launched in 2022 to develop guidance and structure to inspire and support more disabled people to find a job in the sport, physical activity and leisure workforce.

This project was initially led by Aspire, funded by Sport England and supported by a coalition of national organisations (Activity Alliance, CIMSPA, Community Leisure UK, EMD UK, ukactive, UK Coaching) academics (Professor Brett Smith and Dr Juliette Stebbings) and disabled professionals (Michelle Felix, Lee Welch and Sam James).

The project is now taken forward by the coalition of partners and together we promote and support careers in the sector as an attractive and achievable option for disabled people.

We have also seen changes with training providers and employers who are adopting recruitment strategies – including outreach to disabled communities, schools and colleges, offering job-shadowing opportunities in their organisations, trial commute runs and ‘get-to-know-your-colleagues’ lunches – and inclusion policies and are actively collecting more demographic data about their employees.

However, while this good practice is happening, the report concluded that the sector is not yet doing enough to consistently promote and utilise the EmployAbility Leisure Guides and to support the training and employment of disabled people in a collaborative way.

Plus the results of the Annual Disability and Activity Survey (2023-24) by Activity Alliance says that disabled people are more than half as likely to ‘see people like me’ participating, working, and volunteering in sport and physical activity (17% disabled people vs. 43% non-disabled people).

So there's still work to be done.

Next steps

At present our group has made a commitment to keep working collaboratively to achieve sustainable change in the UK’s physical activity and leisure sector to get more disabled people into their workforce.

In the last 12 months we have developed a new Terms of Reference for the group with a new focus and have discussed the learning from the original project.

We are now putting together an action plan, using the learning from the past two years, to guide us – and the sector – forward.

The new aims the group include:

• keep promoting careers in the sector as an attractive and achievable option for disabled people
• building confidence and knowledge within the workforce with regards to working with disabled people as employees
• developing more inclusive and accessible internal cultures across training, education and employer organisations.

I know that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done and I’m certain that, under the guidance of Activity Alliance (who’ll chair the group in 2025), our group will make great progress in the year ahead.

I invite anyone interested in this work to use the EmployAbility guides and to get in touch to be more involved on a strategic level.

We look forward to hearing from you, so please send us your questions or any interesting case study that you think we should be aware of.

Let's work together so the sport, physical activity and leisure sector improves its efforts to offer suitable work opportunities to everybody. 
 

Health has never been higher on the nation’s agenda and if this was ever in doubt, the launch of the government’s consultation to build a health service fit for the future confirms this.

Their ambitions are clear and aim to move health care ‘from the hospital to community’ and for us at the Active Partnerships network, this is high on our agenda too. 

Unfortunately we also know that our health and care systems are under huge pressure.

According to the Richmond Group of Charities, more than 14 million adults in England live with two or more long-term health conditions. That’s one in four of us and as an ageing population this number is set to grow.

We believe that wealth will be built through health, as people leading active lives turbo-charge our wellbeing and help to prevent and manage illness, saving the NHS billions and thereby boosting economic growth.

Backing this statement is Sport England’s latest social value of sport and physical activity report, which found that being active relieves some of the NHS burden by preventing 1.3 million cases of depression, 600,000 cases of diabetes and 57,000 of dementia. 

Disabled people face significant challenges in participating, volunteering and working in sport and physical activity due to financial, physical, psychological and structural barriers.

This data has inspired a partnership programme called Recover and Reinvent between Sport for Confidence (SfC) and Activity Alliance (AA) designed to promote roles enabling people with lived experience to work in the sector.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions, in 2023 the employment rate of disabled people was 53%, compared to 82% of non-disabled people – a gap representing a difference of over two million individuals.

And disability charity Scope says that disabled people are almost twice as likely to be unemployed, with jobseekers often facing barriers at every stage of the employment ladder.

Many employers have not seriously considered the inclusivity of their workplaces and, as a result, biases or misconceptions – such as believing it’s too difficult, risky or expensive to hire disabled individuals – remain widespread.

Sharing my experience

These attitudes impact disabled jobseekers’ ability to apply and get into work every day, plus they can also create inaccessible workplaces, so this problem needs to be addressed.

I am proud to contribute to the Recover and Reinvent partnership, which works to foster positive change because for many of us involved, discrimination is not theoretical – it is lived and deeply felt.
 

In my experience a failure to make reasonable adjustments meant my health constantly worsened – I would burn out, end up bed-bound or in hospital, recover and return, only for it to happen all over again.

The pressure to turn up to work every day despite the pain, fatigue, mental strain and sense of failure I felt was intense and overwhelming. 

This negative cycle eventually reduced my capacity to stay in long-term stable employment despite all the years of training and dedication to my profession, which ended in my career and purpose in life being taken away from me.

The lack of flexibility in many professions exacerbates these challenges, which have also been further amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.

I was expected to use my planning and preparation time (which is time given to teachers to allow them time away from classroom delivery to do planning, preparation and assessment-based work each week) to attend hospital appointments and had to cancel many others because they didn’t ‘fit’ within the timetable and working hours.

As a result I missed treatments and my mental health spiralled, leading to a five-week hospital stay and recovery that meant I was unable to leave the house by myself for seven years let alone consider employment.

Finding solutions together 

So the solution is clear: workplaces must adapt to ensure equal opportunities for all current or future employees.

Change is needed across the board, making job advertisements, application processes and interview practices accessible to disabled individuals.

We need to support candidates through often rigid recruitment systems to foster experiences where people feel safe and supported.

For example, in my recent interview for the position on the Recovery and Reinvent Programme I felt much safer knowing that my lived experience would be considered a strength rather than a weakness or an obstacle to being able to do the job.

Potential employers may offer reasonable adjustments for application and interviews, but are these being communicated effectively to the 10 million working-age disabled people in the UK?

Simple measures can make a big difference.

For me, it was helpful to be able to bring my personal assistant to the interview without feeling self-conscious about it.

And for my personal assistant it was great having a place to wait and to be welcomed by the interview panel and provided with a drink.

This adjustment allowed me to focus on my interview with reduced anxiety levels.

Employers face challenges in integrating disabled people into the workplace, but these are not excuses.

Barriers like inaccessible environments, inadequate adjustments, biases and a lack of understanding must be addressed.

Talent assessment organisation Chally published an inclusion quote that I really relate to:

 “The workplace is one of the best scenarios where these differences can engage, support, challenge, and inspire curiosity. Championing diversity in an organisation leads to better outcomes and greater success for individuals and teams.”

Through our partnership we are collaborating with many national partners to reduce inequalities for disabled people to challenge organisations, partners, employers and individuals to bring about lasting societal change.

And we need to acknowledge and work against negative attitudes towards disability as these disempower individuals and fuel social exclusion.

Empowered by our lived experiences, occupational therapists and peer support workers working with the sport and physical activity sector are essential to the success of the programme.

Together, we aim to create a network of individuals who will enhance opportunities for disabled people to engage in physical activity, sports, volunteering  and employment.

If you share our passion and values, please get in touch and share your experiences (good or bad) because both will help us grow.

Let’s learn together, grow together and create opportunities that foster belonging among disabled people.
 

I have a massive passion for sport.

In the past, I’ve had challenges when trying to take part in sport and have also experienced negative attitudes by some people, so I don’t want others to have to go through the same difficulties I've faced.

I became a sports coach with Arsenal football in the community so I could help others and, following this position, I was asked to tutor with an organisation called Advocacy on their Employment Ambassadors programme.

After that I was advised to apply for my current role with Mencap, co-tutoring their Learning Disability in Sport Workshop.

A programme for disabled people in sport

This programme aims to help clubs, coaches and providers of sport understand how to support people with a learning disability to access sporting opportunities in an inclusive environment.

As part of the workshop, which was first delivered 10 years ago, I talk about my experiences - including the barriers and the challenges I face on a regular basis.

This inspires people to think about their own delivery and gets them to reflect on what they need to consider when coaching and to make new pathways for disabled people in our sector.
 

People sometimes wonder if this kind of workshop is necessary and I think it is, because activity must be inclusive for everyone.

Those with learning disabilities face a lot of barriers to taking part in sport and physical activity, but the workshop helps people and organisations to be aware of these and how to overcome them.

According to Sport England, people with learning disabilities are also less likely to take part in sport and physical activity, but that doesn't mean they don't want to be active - they just don’t have the same opportunities to participate.

But this workshop helps to improve understanding of how to help disabled people get active.

Since the pandemic we have delivered 58 workshops across the country reaching 989 people and we'll keep working to reach many more.

People have passed on great compliments about the course, too, including the following:

‘Thank you so much for explaining everything and for the amazing practical exercises, which clearly and practically made us understand what a person with learning difficulties needs to deal with on a daily basis, and how that can affect them and how those around them (coaches and helpers) that are giving the session need to adaptable.’

So what examples of practical things can be done to help coaches and helpers to design better sessions for people with disabilities?

Take time think about the language you use.

Language that some people use in their day-to-day lives can be hard to understand for others.

So as a coach, if you need to explain how to do a particular exercise, ask yourself: 'can someone with a learning disability understand what I'm saying?'

If they can’t, how do you think that makes them feel?

So use simple language and break information down into smaller chunks and, where needed, give people enough time to understand new information.

Some people don’t know there are pathways to global competitions for people with learning disabilities.

Find out what is out there for people with a learning disability and how they can get involved.

Inclusive recruitment in our sector

So as well as disabled people being active, how easy is it for disabled people to work in our sector? We need to ensure there are inclusive recruitment possibilities.

For me, inclusive recruitment looks like people with learning disabilities having an equal chance for jobs.

When you’re in employment, you’re included in different parts of the company and you’re seen as an equal, which means you don’t get excluded.

I also think that speaking to people and understanding their training or accessibility needs is important because that helps them feel included in their workplace and beyond.

In this sense, learning disability-focused training helps employers to understand things from the perspective of someone with a learning disability.

They can then make changes to the workplace to make it more inclusive, like communicating in different ways because for instance, some people may prefer voice notes rather than emailing.

The most important thing is knowing that each person is different and will have different needs, so if we can understand those differences we can then go about helping them.

The benefits of inclusive work environments

When I think of the benefits I bring to those I work with as a tutor with lived experience as a disabled person, I think of talking about my life experiences and sharing advice to help them be more inclusive in their coaching offers.

But what’s more important is that when people see me in a leadership role, it opens their eyes to a better understanding of how people with a learning disability can and must be employed.

As an employer you don’t want to tell people’s stories for them.

Instead, working to employ disabled people helps you to better understand them and letting them tell their own stories has a massive impact and something that I think is key is for employers to think of different ways to advertise job opportunities to people with learning disabilities.

This could be word-of-mouth, contacting or visiting local organisations to present the job opportunities, or providing easy-read information about the available positions.

The easier the better.

I feel that recruiters could have better ways of allowing people with learning disabilities to fill in applications, possibly with video applications.

They could also allow voice notes or online meetings, depending on the person and their individual needs, and it's important to give people the space to have comfortable conversations and to not make interviews an intimidating situation. 

Those in charge of recruiting could offer people the chance to have support during the interview if needed and, most importantly, they should chat to disabled people like regular people, because we are!

As a leader make sure you take action – rather than just talking – and don’t make empty promises.

Help inspire others to be the leaders they want to be in their life and in their community by helping them feel like they have a fair chance and equal opportunities to get the advertised job.

If you would like to find out more about the workshop, please get in touch.
 

By becoming a Disability Confident Leader, we are not only aiming to lead by example within our industry.

We also want to support other organisations in their journey to build inclusive practices.  

We are delighted that our inclusive hiring practices and workplace activities have earned us the recognition as a Disability Confident Leader.

This was very much a collaborative project across a number of functions, and I was especially pleased to have representation from our staff disability Network, STRIDE, and our recognised staff trade union, PCS.

Our work involved a level of challenge, with insights gained as part of the process.  

All in all, the journey to becoming a Disability Confident Leader has involved:

• evidencing our approach to attract, recruit and retain disabled people
• building an inclusive workplace culture, including disability awareness equality training and policy development
• guiding staff to information and advice on mental health conditions
• collaborating with external partners to ensure that our workplace practices align with inclusion
• through our procurement, encouraging our suppliers to be Disability Confident
• a commitment to publicly reporting the percentage of staff who consider themselves a disabled person or are living with a long-term health condition
• providing networks for staff, valuing their feedback and providing occupational health services if required
• providing human resources staff with specific Disability Confident training.

Our work continues

Sport England has now joined a growing list of organisations recognised as Disability Confident Leaders and we’re truly happy and proud of all the work we’ve done to get to where we are.

We look forward to our ongoing commitments and to continuing our work to ensure that everyone can thrive in a truly inclusive environment.

We’ll be working through recommendations and guidance from our validator – the Business Disability Forum – and ensuring improvements continue to be made through regular assessments.  

This accreditation signals our core values – we are ambitious, we are collaborative, we are inclusive and we are innovative – and demonstrates a forward-looking commitment to maintaining the scheme and evolving practices.

We will be voluntarily reporting about our Disability Confident work in the coming 12 months, as part of our commitment to being a Disability Confident Leader, because we are happy to grow and we want all our employees to be able to contribute, participate and benefit from that growth.

“It’s like the Olympics but even better” said my 10-year-old, as I watched him and his younger sister glued to the T54 marathon on the TV, not long after I had returned from four days in Paris.

They had fully engaged with the Paris 2024 Paralympics from the get-go and not just because it was constantly on our TV in the lounge.

They were not afraid to ask the usual questions about the sports, the athletes and the countries represented, but I also heard (and welcomed) the inquisitive questions around inclusion, adaptations and the different equipment used, and I was embracing the teachable moments with them!

A true game-changer

I echoed their excitement as my short visit to the Paralympic Games in Paris was nothing short of incredible.

The energy, determination and strength that radiated from the athletes made it clear that the Paralympic Games are more than just a showcase of sporting excellence.

They represent the culmination of years of effort, dedication and commitment to their sport.

At the events I went to, the majority-French spectators were generous with their support – even if it wasn’t for their team.

The venues had been dressed for the occasion and tried hard to be as accessible as they could be for both participants and spectators.
 

But what about the public transport? Well, the organisers recognised they couldn’t do much about their old and dense Metro system and the city's sometimes inaccessible street layout, but they focused on what they could change.

So they created more accessible bus routes, shuttle buses and accessible taxis that together with a relatively accessible public transport app, aimed to cater for the 350,000 disabled visitors.

The system was by no means perfect, but it showed progress nonetheless.

During my time there I was lucky enough to see wheelchair basketball, athletics, boccia, para table tennis and goalball.

In each sport the skill level was high, the playing quality was outstanding and I saw records broken. I felt incredibly grateful to be there!

Because in what any other four days can anyone ever see that much live sport and at that level? 

The ParalympicsGB team delivered outstanding results and thrived in a full (and loud!) stadium and, for the third consecutive Games, they were second in the medal table.

And even if you couldn’t attend in person, you could follow the action on Channel 4, from where 20 million people watched, achieving the biggest audience share in 12 years for the channel.

Paris’ were also the most accessible Games ever, as 91% of the presenting and commenting team were disabled – 30% of crew in total.

There were also repeated adverts for Every Body Moves – the inclusive sport and physical activity finder.  

All these elements have truly set the bar for future Games high. Very high.

The main purpose of my visit to Paris was to attend the Championing Change reception with ParalympicsGB.

This was the launch of their new social impact strategy together with the launch of Equal Play –  their campaign and policy paper to garner a commitment to ensuring every child has the same access to PE and sport at school.

The Equal Play campaign’s goal is to ensure that no child is left on the sidelines, as just one in four disabled children say they take part regularly in sport at school.

There are 1.5 million disabled children – 15% of the school population – and so the figures of those who do not participate are stark, but the documentary that goes with it has been brilliantly done.

Present at the event were multiple stakeholders from across the sector, which included a notable visit from UK’s Government Minister of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy.

She echoed the call to support the human rights of disabled children to play sport, as part of a bold new ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children in our history.

Gathering momentum afterwards, there has now been an open letter sent to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer about Equal Play from ParalympicsGB that has gained significant traction across the sector and on social media, as well as from the athletes themselves.

So much more to come

However, despite all the progress we have seen there is still so much to be done to challenge the many inequalities faced by disabled people in sport and physical activity.

Our Active Lives surveys constantly tells us that disabled people are still twice as likely to be physically inactive.

And of course not every disabled person can or wants to become a Paralympian and it is true that elite sport is only for a few. However, getting society to the point where every disabled person can play sport, be active and move more in everyday life is even more important.

So it’s everybody’s responsibility to step up, to consider our approaches and to provide wholly accessible opportunities for everybody to be able to enjoy the benefits from moving.

In the words of Paralympian Stef Reid MBE: “The inclusion revolution is officially on!” and I couldn't agree more. 
 

Today we've launched our brand new Accessible and inclusive sports facilities (AISF) guidance.

It is aimed at anyone who is involved in designing, updating or operating sports and leisure facilities in England.

The guidance is available on our site as a suite of screen-reader-friendly, accessible PDFs and is soon to be available in easy-read format.

An essential tool for our long-term strategy Uniting the Movement, AISF signals a step change in our standards for designing and maintaining the sector’s built environments.

Our 10-year strategy imagines “a nation of more equal, inclusive and connected communities” in which everyone can enjoy the benefits of being active.

Yet for far too many people, the places and spaces designed to support physical activity are the very barriers that prevent them from taking part. For example, we know that:

• almost half of disabled people (49%) say they lack suitable options for taking part in sports or physical activity in their local area
• only 8% of disabled people would choose to be active at a sport-specific facility (e.g. a football, tennis or cricket club, climbing centres, etc.) compared to 15% of non-disabled people.

What’s different about AISF?

In the past, we’ve produced guidance that focused solely on meeting people’s physical access needs and, rightly, AISF continues to set the industry standard for accessibility.