What does the data tell us?

Adam Blaze CEO Activity Alliance

Our Annual Survey plays such an important role in our work and as we increasingly hear, in partners’ work too. To truly inspire change, we need to understand disabled people’s experiences of, and views on, the opportunities that exist or should exist to improve activity levels. That is exactly what this trailblazing survey does. While it is positive that the latest report shows that the number of disabled people being active is stable, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure we significantly increase this number. The reality is that there remains a long way to go before we can call our society fair and equal. The report found that only 43% of disabled people feel they have the chance to be as active as they desire, with disabled women more likely to feel the disparity in perceived opportunity compared to disabled men (39% vs 48%).

Another finding was that disabled people are most likely to say they prefer being active in outdoor spaces, but worryingly only 44% of disabled people say it’s easy for them to physically access outdoor spaces.

To truly make a difference we need to ensure that we take note of, and understand, the barriers that disabled people face every day

This report highlights the stark differences in some areas between disabled and non-disabled people. Disabled people remain the least active in every community. This shows that deep-rooted barriers exist, and for this to change we all must work together. The fight for fairness is everyone’s responsibility. From those who work in sport, physical activity, education and health through to policy makers. We need to unite to raise awareness and champion disabled people in everything we do.

We have made some suggestions in our manifesto to any future government for how they can help us combat these issues. The three asks within the manifesto cover benefits, health and care workers and outdoor spaces – three areas explored in this report.

We are here to help, and our expert team can support in many ways.

In Paralympic year, I want to call upon leaders and providers to read this report and take a moment to analyse the changes they can make. To truly make a difference we need to ensure that we take note of, and understand, the barriers that disabled people face every day on a grassroots level.

It is time we doubled our efforts to break down barriers to sport and physical activity for disabled people. From the playground to podium, nobody should feel left out or forgotten. Inclusion and accessibility benefit everyone.”