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Member Scope launch summer activity campaign, Make it Count

This week Activity Alliance member Scope, the disability equality charity, published new survey results that shows the alarming decrease in activity among disabled people since the start of the pandemic. Results show that half of disabled people became less active during the pandemic worsening their mental and physical health.

Wheelchair racer

The survey of more than 1,000 disabled people found (1):

  • Almost half (48 %) of disabled people have become less active since the pandemic with many facing barriers to exercise due to shielding or fears about the risk of catching Coronavirus.
  • 42 per cent of disabled people said their mental health has worsened as a result of being less active.
  • Half of disabled people (51 per cent) say that their mobility, dexterity or movement has worsened as a result of being less active.
  • More than a third (35 per cent) of disabled people feel excluded from sport, citing barriers such as negative attitudes, inaccessible sporting venues, and a lack of trained staff to support disabled people.
  • Yet despite these barriers, 91 per cent want to be more active.

Scope is launching its new fully accessible virtual sporting fundraiser Make it Count to inspire more people to get active. It will take place alongside the Tokyo Paralympic Games, between 24 August and 5 September, when the global spotlight is on disability sport.

Make it Count participants clock up minutes doing an active challenge, while fundraising for Scope. Its focus is on setting a personal challenge for the individual, making it accessible to all.  

Make it Count is designed to celebrate inclusive sport. The leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity, Activity Alliance, backs Scope's call to sporting facilities around the UK to make themselves more accessible to disabled people.

Scope’s research found disabled people experienced many barriers in sport settings, including:

  • 25 per cent said they felt excluded due to a lack of staff /coaches trained to support disabled people
  • 21 per cent said they felt excluded due to a lack of accessible sporting facilities
  • 17 per cent said they felt excluded due to the negative attitudes of staff
  • 14 per cent said they felt excluded due to their local sports venue being inaccessible

In February, Activity Alliance released the second Annual Disability Sport and Activity Survey. It revealed the stark impact of this crisis on disabled people’s activity levels. Evidence continues to show disabled people’s lives have been the hardest hit by COVID-19. 

Mark Hodgkinson of Scope said:

"Our research shows that disabled people want to get active and are raring to go but too often they face barriers. As we move out of lockdown, we must not waste this opportunity to improve attitudes, improve our gyms and sports centres and get more disabled people involved in sport.
"The Paralympics are a time when there is global interest in disability sport, but we know that exclusion from physical activity is still an everyday reality for too many disabled people. The Paralympics only run for two weeks, but Scope wants sport to be accessible to everyone all year round."

To find out more about Make it Count click here