250k boost for disability sport in Cheshire & Warrington
Disabled people in Cheshire & Warrington will have more opportunities to get involved in sport after Sport Cheshire received £250,000 of funding from Sport England's Inclusive Sport fund.
Sport Cheshire is one of 44 projects across England that will benefit from £8.06 million of National Lottery investment from Sport England to open up more opportunities for disabled people to play sport.
Funds will help to deliver the 'Count Me In' strategy, produced by Sport Cheshire on behalf of local stakeholders. Investment will enable us to build confidence within coaches and volunteers. improve quality and accessibility within local operators and increase access to the local offer for those with impairments.
Sport Cheshire Chairman, David Newton, said:
"We are absolutely delighted to be receiving funding from the Sport England's Inclusive Sport Fund. It means a great deal to local stakeholders as it provides invaluable funding to help us extend the opportunities for disabled children, young people and adults in the local area to get involved in sport."
Sport England Director of Insight, Lisa O'Keefe, said:
"We are delighted to be able to help Sport Cheshire and their partners to provide more opportunities for disabled people to give sport a go. Record numbers of disabled people now play sport and it's thanks to clubs like this that we can continue to improve opportunities and make a real difference in communities."
The number of disabled people playing sport regularly is on the rise. In December 2013, Sport England's Active People Survey - an annual, in-depth measure of the nation's sporting habits - revealed that a record number of disabled people in England now play sport each week. However, non-disabled people are still twice as likely to play sport as disabled people (39.2 per cent compared to 18.5 per cent) which is why Sport England continues to focus attention and investment to address this imbalance.
Sport England's Inclusive Sport Fund supports programmes that aim to increase the number of disabled people playing sport. Since the fund launched, £17.1 million has been invested in 88 projects that make sport a viable lifestyle choice for disabled people.
As well as funding disability sport programmes, Sport England also funds equipment. In addition to today's £8.06 million announcement, Sport England also recently awarded £1 million to 141 clubs across England to help them buy equipment to open up sport to disabled people.
In 2013, Sport England invested £2million into the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) to help accelerate our strategy to increase sports participation over two years. They have also directly funded six disability sports organisations to advise, support and guide other sports governing bodies as they create opportunities for participation by disabled people. British Blind Sport, Cerebral Palsy Sport, Dwarf Sport Association UK, WheelPower, UK Deaf Sport and Mencap Sport/Special Olympics GB all received a share of £1.3 million of National Lottery funding to make this happen.
