Chair blog: “Don’t leave inclusion out in the cold”
The Beijing Winter Paralympic Games begin this week (Friday 4 March – Sunday 13 March) and Activity Alliance is excited about the focus it gives to amazing elite disabled sports people across the globe. Often winter sports feature less when we talk about ways to be active in the UK. With this reduced promotion, it’s easy for you to assume there aren’t many to take part in in our country. But you’d be wrong! Our Chair, Sam Orde, writes on the importance of the Winter Paralympics for changing attitudes about disabled people and the sporting opportunities available right across our communities. She explores why the focus needs to be on encouraging at a grassroots level.
"As with the Summer Games in Tokyo, I cannot wait to see our nation’s greatest athletes take to the global stage. Perhaps it can be said the Winter Paralympics isn’t given as much attention in the media or within our sporting conversations as often as the Summer Games. It would be easy to think there aren’t many winter sports out there to enjoy in our country, but I know there is a lot of work taking place to ensure snow sports are inclusive. What is most important is how these sports resonate back to the communities we live in, and the positivity it inspires for people to try sports, perhaps for the first time.
For many of us, the Winter Games are a moment where we fall in love with sports that we do not see on our screens all that often. The magic of being able to see a new sport – to think, “I’d love to do that” – and get involved. After all, very few of us will ever want to or can be an elite athlete in our lifetime.
As we watch the Games, we must acknowledge that there are many disabled people in our communities who want to be active but are not being given the opportunity. But it’s got to be the right opportunity; appealing and accessible in a place that is welcoming.
Disabled people must be able to try out any sport or activity, including winter sports. We must prioritise as we come out of a two-year pandemic that has impacted disabled people the most. Wider systemic barriers are now greater than ever, preventing so many disabled people from accessing or enjoying an active lifestyle. It is more than an accessible facility, it is the skilled workforce, and the knowledge to know how to genuinely include disabled people. Backed by disabled people’s confidence across sport and leisure to truly understand and act upon what support is needed to have a quality experience.
Disabled people continue to be the least active in our society – twice as likely as non-disabled people to be inactive. We cannot celebrate the glory of elite sport, knowing there is much more needed at grassroots level. Everyone must feel they can reap the benefits of an active lifestyle.
Sport and activity can transform lives. We know this from hearing so many disabled people’s stories. But the stories right now are highlighting far too many negative experiences that simply are not fair in this day and age.
In May 2021, we released our strategy, ‘Achieving Fairness’, with our two goals to change attitudes and embed inclusive practice. This won’t happen overnight, and we cannot do it alone. But we can achieve fairness quicker through greater collaboration and ensuring disabled people are at the heart of the movement.
Activity Alliance’s Annual Disability and Activity Survey 2020-21 highlighted that just 35 per cent of disabled people believe that sport is for someone like them. Sport needs to be a realistic offer for the millions of disabled people or people with a long-term health condition – one in five of us in the UK.
Our expertise, programmes and resources can support your organisation to make changes including in winter sports. Don’t leave inclusion out in the cold.”
Find out how we can help on our website.
(Image credit: Disability Snowsport UK)
