Sport England Update – March 2016
parkrun and Sport England launch project to get more people with visual impairments participating at parkrun
Sport England has invested £142,500 of National Lottery funding in parkrun to launch a pilot scheme for VI people, to help them start running, walking or volunteering at events, to meet new people and learn new skills. The money will also go towards encouraging more people to volunteer as VI running guides.
While many VI participants and volunteer guides are already enjoying parkrun, the aim is to use the cash to boost the number of VI people that are to take part.
Around 1.49 million people – or 10 per cent of disabled people – in England have a visual impairment. However, only 9.8 per cent of visually impaired people are active once a week. A Sport England’s Active People Survey shows that VI people are the least likely disability group to be active.
This is an 18-month project, to be delivered in two stages. The first £11,250 of the pot is a hard commitment and £131,250 has been offered in principal over two stages, each subject to parkrun meeting specific conditions – which is why organisers are encouraging as many people as possible to get involved.
In the second stage of this project, taster days, community engagement events and volunteer days, will be held across the country. parkrun will also support a volunteer network of guide runners that can be matched to VI participants. There’s no need for any previous running experience, and many people – guides and runners – already start off by walking some of or the whole course.
In instances where a VI person does not know the venue or is not confident accessing it, volunteers may provide assistance in getting there. Consideration will also be given to people who need their guide dogs looked after during the event.
Based on the success of these activities, parkrun hopes to roll out a programme to encourage more visually impaired people to start or improve their running or to volunteer.
parkrun also holds junior 2k parkruns on Sundays for those between the ages of 4 and 14. There is no official VI pilot for young people, but organisers are keen to respond to any demand for guide runners for this age group, too.
parkrun would be delighted to hear from any visually impaired people who currently take part in parkrun, using the email address parkrunukresearch@parkrun.com .
School Games Organiser Funding Confirmed
Sport England has today confirmed that School Games Organisers will continue to receive funding.
Sport England has today confirmed that School Games Organisers will continue to receive funding throughout the current parliament, securing the futures of the 452 SGOs.
Sport England Mini Sport Profiles
Refreshed February 2016, the Mini Sport Profile now provides, at your fingertips, the key sport, health, and economic data for a local authority area. It includes maps of modelled super output area data for sports participation and excess weight. Access the information