EFDS and HACT working together to make active lives possible
On Tuesday 13 December the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS), working in partnership with HACT, the housing sector solutions agency, hosted an event to support housing providers to enable disabled residents to be more active. Individuals from a range of housing providers covering England and Scotland attended the event. All had an interest in providing physical activity and learning more about how they could support their staff to deliver a more inclusive offer.
On the day attendees heard from Andrew van Doorn, Chief Executive Designate of HACT. He talked about the relevance to the housing sector of the 2015 government sport strategy, Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation. In addition, he outlined the importance of their role in supporting inactive groups to become more active.
Following this, Barry Horne, Chief Executive of EFDS, supported attendees to understand the differences in levels of participation between disabled and non-disabled people. He highlighted how vital it is to support staff to provide inclusive opportunities for all individuals.
Research shows that 7 in 10 disabled people have not been active in the last month, compared to 5 in 10 non-disabled people. Previous EFDS research found that psychological barriers and awareness of appropriate activities play the biggest role in preventing disabled people from taking part.
As a solution to supporting more of their disabled residents to be more active, the housing providers were introduced to the Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training Programme, delivered in partnership by EFDS and sports coach UK.
This unique workforce development opportunity provides high-quality training to individuals who support disabled people in the community. To date, over 6,300 support workers, volunteers, community organisations and healthcare professionals have benefitted from the low-cost training which consists of a three hour practical workshop and online resources.
Event attendees heard how they could arrange Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training workshops, not only to upskill their frontline staff to engage disabled people in physical activity, but also for their residents. This supports them to take a decisive role in their wellbeing and to access employment and volunteering opportunities in the local community.
Barry Horne said:
“EFDS exists to make active lives possible and part of our work is to enable more people to feel confident and skilled to include everyone in activities. The Inclusive Community Training is a unique opportunity to up-skill those who are at the heart of our local communities.
“We know there are many people working in the housing sector who would benefit from the additional knowledge this training offers. So we are very happy to be working with HACT to provide opportunities for housing associations.”
If you work in the housing sector and would like more information about how EFDS can support you to engage disabled people in physical activity or about the Sainsbury’s Inclusive Community Training please contact us via email on cstudley@efds.co.uk or call 01509 227751.
