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The report provides a baseline understanding of disabled people’s lives and what they want and need from sport and physical activity


The fact that disabled people’s participation in sport is much lower than non-disabled people is a serious concern


choose to take part in. The long term aim is to provide more robust guidance, based on strong evidence, of what they want and how to provide it. To attract more disabled customers, as


well as their family and friends, it’s impor- tant to understand what opportunities are better suited and more appealing. Disabled people are not contained in


one homogenous group. Instead, it may be better to identify the main drivers and motivations for them to take part, and use those to guide opportunity ideas.


RESEARCH Conducted by EFDS, the research took place between November 2012 and January 2013 and included a total of 476 people aged 14 or over from across England. Disabled people and their representatives (for those unable to complete the survey without support) completed the survey online, over the phone and face to face. An easy-read version of the survey, containing fewer questions and more images, was created to ensure that people with a learning disability could also take part.


Issue 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013 The report showed a significant latent


demand for sport and physical activity among disabled people, with seven in 10 wanting to do more. However, a lack of awareness of the opportunities prevents three in ten from taking part. Barry Horne, CEO of EFDS, said:


“This report highlights that there’s still a big gap between ambition and reality when it comes to disabled people’s participation in physical activ- ity. There’s been a huge focus on elite level participation and the Paralympics produced fantastic role models, but the real change is required at grassroots level. The fact that disabled people’s participation levels are much lower than non-disabled is a serious concern, especially as the benefits of physical activity to wellbeing are widely known.” The report provides an interesting


baseline understanding of disabled people’s lives and what they want and need from sport and physical activity. It isn’t designed to offer all the an- swers, but to act as a starting point for how to improve things. EFDS wants to encourage the sport and leisure sectors


The research included 476 disabled people


to think about provision for disabled people from a different angle – taking into account their views and perceptions.


LIFELONG ENJOYMENT Only half those surveyed said they’d enjoyed PE at school: a worrying statis- tic, given all children are exposed to PE as a mandatory subject. This negative experience could have a significant impact on their likelihood of continuing activity after leaving school. Horne commented: “If people are


being turned off participating in sport because of their experience at school,


Read Sports Management online sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital 47


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