Introducing Hugo Hammond

"I want to see disabled people feeling more confident in sporting environments”

I can’t overstate how important sport and physical activity has been to me on a personal level. Having the opportunity to be active has played a massive part in shaping me into the person I am today. I tried everything from cricket, karate to golf and so on. In particular, I found it to support my mental health throughout the years.

When I was younger, I struggled with the number of operations I was having, this was at a time when I was in a wheelchair and having corrective operations for my talipes. Sport was the positive thing in my life that gave me something to aim towards. It’s also been an amazing opportunity for me to make friends for life too.

My experiences have been so positive; however, I am very aware that sadly this isn’t the case for everyone.

To ensure everyone can enjoy their right to experience physical activity in a positive way, there are changes that have to be made. There’s lots of things we can think about, whether big changes or just simple ones. The first thing I think of is that sports venues and facilities need to be accessible. Whether that is having ramps and lifts, or that transport routes are considered as part of accessibility planning – infrastructure and equipment makes a huge difference.

Inclusivity should come not only from places, but from people. Staff must be trained to accommodate everyone. I know that 20% of the UK population are disabled – that’s a lot of people to be disregarding if you aren’t inclusive.

Part of this journey comes from changing mindsets. I believe raising awareness can do a lot to eliminate the perceived barriers. At present, I feel disability sport and activity are associated so heavily with the Paralympics, and that it’s only really celebrated every four years. As incredible as elite sport is, I want para-sport to be spoken about all the time. Diverse examples of visibility are essential to improve participation at a grassroots level.

The more we see that wider coverage, the more we can collectively encourage and highlight the opportunities that are out there for disabled people. Positive mainstream media about disability has a domino effect which helps to eliminate unnecessary stigmas of taking part in sport and physical activity. What I want to see is disabled people feeling more confident in sport and similar environments.

I believe representation is improving. When I look on the TV now there is more visibility and representation of disabled people. However, it’s clear there is a long way to go to get the equality level we want to see.

Talking about fairness, sometimes it can be hard to know what that looks like. Without the direct input of disabled people, it’s easy to get things wrong.

One memory I have from primary school is that before my major correction operations, I would take part in sports day. For the long-distance running race, staff would always give me a head start – but even with the head start I’d still finish last in the race. With all the best intention, all that was happening is that I was being separated from my peers and as a result, feeling more isolated. A simple conversation would have been easy enough to avoid that from happening.

Having these open and honest conversations in the media and elsewhere is really important. By speaking about it earnestly, we can encourage people to start reflecting on what they need to do to improve and evolve their practices. Putting disabled people at the forefront of these conversations is essential to see progress. It’s no surprise to me that asking disabled people what they need is the easiest way to get things right and make an instant change.

Those small changes are what supports disabled people feel more like they belong in the world of sport and physical activity. Honest conversations are the only way to get to where we want to be, ensuring fairness and equal opportunity in sport.