£160,000 Boost for disability sport in Cornwall
Disabled people in Cornwall will have more opportunities to get involved in sport after the Cornwall Sports Partnership has received £114,000 of funding from Sport England's Inclusive Sport fund towards a total project cost of £160,000 to deliver 'LD Active Kernow'.
The project is one of 44 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.
LD Active Kernow will break down barriers for those with learning disabilities to become more physically active by establishing sports hubs across the county. Working in partnership with Tempus Leisure these hubs will offer a range of sports that are in line with the Special Olympics.
Sports Inclusion Officer at the Cornwall Sports Partnership, Steve Hillman, said:
'We are absolutely delighted to get this amount of investment into Cornwall for disability sport. It provides invaluable funding to not only offer lots of opportunities for those with a Learning Disability to get active but also a training programme and a clear pathway to establish the Cornwall Special Olympics Club.
Sport England Director of Insight, Lisa O'Keefe, said:
"We are delighted to be able to help The Cornwall Sports Partnership 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.
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.
