How can you help disabled people be active

“The most important thing I’ll take away from today is to focus on what people can do, rather than what they can’t,” says the YMCA’s Joe Hoblyn.

He has just completed a training programme aimed at equipping him and others with the knowledge to help disabled people get into sport and activity. Just 2 in 10 disabled people are regularly active, according to new research. And three-quarters don’t know about any opportunities to take part in sport.

Breaking down barriers

The Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training programme, supported with £1 million of our funding, is working to break down the barriers to being active. Its three-hour training course is designed to give everyone, from carers and volunteers to family and community workers, the know-how to offer inclusive physical activity sessions that cater for disabled people.

Eye-opening

Among those who’ve already taken the course is Cass, who’s a volunteer at a Riding for the Disabled club in Yorkshire working with disabled children and adults. She said taking the course has opened her eyes to different ways she can adapt sessions for her riders. “The course has given me more confidence to encourage my riders to have a say in what they’d like to do and achieve,” she added. The programme, part of the Active Kids For All scheme, is being delivered through the English Federation of Disability Sport and sports coach UK.

Workshops are being held across the country – find your nearest one now.