CEO blog: "Enjoy the Games but we can’t rely on a legacy"
The Tokyo Paralympic Games begin today and many will highlight the 'legacy' in their speeches and articles. Our Chief Executive, Barry Horne, writes on the Games and the wider barriers that prevent so many disabled people from accessing or enjoying an active lifestyle. He also explores why we cannot wait for and rely on a legacy to solve the issues.
"Like many across the nation who love sport, I will be gripped to my seat watching the Tokyo Paralympic Games when they begin today (24 August). I cannot wait to see our nation’s greatest athletes take to the global stage. It is what the summer ParalympicsGB team has been waiting for – for five years this time!
As we watch the Games, we must understand that there are many disabled people in our communities who are not motivated or inspired by elite athletes. Millions more disabled people who are waiting to find the right opportunity in their local area. We must reassure people throughout the year (not just around the Games’ period) that just being active is good enough.
After all we’ve been through in the last 18 months, many of us have questioned our priorities and where activity fits in our lives. As the leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity, we are concerned about the huge drop in activity levels. Before the pandemic we were seeing glimmers of hope in disabled people’s activity levels improving.
But findings in our most recent Annual Disability and Activity Survey show we face a real crisis, in tackling disabled people’s fears and rebuilding confidence.
Disabled people are fighting every day to break through long-term systemic barriers that can mean activity is often way down the list of priorities. Take someone who asks time and time again for support to get the right equipment to manage around their home. Why would they want to add to their arduous task list and fight for more support to be active outside the home?
The stark reality is disabled people remain twice as likely to be inactive as non-disabled people. We need concerted and combined efforts for us to see genuine change. There is a huge fairness gap between disabled and non-disabled people’s activity and we at Activity Alliance can’t fix it alone. That’s why our members and partners are with us as we strive to see a real difference and improvement.
It will take leaders from across all government departments and delivery agents to get the foundations right so that many more disabled people will consider being active. We need to make being active an attractive offer that fits into everyone’s life, not restricted by the wider barriers that limit our choices.
That’s why I was impressed to see the global campaign WeThe15 last week. Leading international organisations united to launch the decade-long campaign to transform the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion disabled people. Launched ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, WeThe15 aims to end discrimination towards disabled people and act as a global movement publicly campaigning for disability visibility, accessibility, and inclusion.
The Paralympic Games are of course not the only major event on the calendar. Other events like the Special Olympics, Deaflympics and World Dwarf Games highlight disabled people’s talent too. Due to funding, the media rights and history, the spotlight is always more on the Paralympics. But I’d like to see every major event for disabled people getting their rightful attention and funding.
The benefits of sport impact our mental and physical health and social inclusion. I hope we continue to talk about these benefits long after the Paralympics are over, and as the media coverage slows down. We need ongoing commitment to achieve greater fairness at every level.
Through our growing insight, we are getting to know more about disabled people’s experiences and motivations. We know many more would like to be more active. There needs to be a wealth of opportunities on everyone’s doorstep, that are welcoming, inclusive, and accessible.
I urge leaders across sport and leisure to look at their own strategies and programmes. There is so much support and resources available for you to make the changes from today. Let’s not wait for another major event to be talking about the legacy again. The true legacy must be that disabled people can be active wherever and in whatever they want to be, every single day.
