Annual Disability and Activity Survey update and 2023 plans

This important national survey tracks changes in disabled people’s attitudes towards and involvement in sport and physical activity year on year. Last year’s findings revealed that disabled people felt forgotten and less encouraged to return to physical activity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity, this insight guides all our work. It is used to educate and inform our strategic decision-making, as well as by our member organisations, partner networks, and beyond.

This year, we reviewed the survey content with disabled people prior to data collection to ensure it focuses on the topics that are most important to them. Our upcoming report will include more detail on:

• Personal finances and the rising cost-of-living.
• Loneliness and wellbeing levels.
• Co-production opportunities.
• Representation of disabled people.

Almost 2,000 people took part in the survey from July to October 2022. Importantly, the project included a qualitative component where disabled people reacted to the key findings and influenced the focus of the research report and our recommendations. Listening to the diverse voices and lived experiences of disabled people, and people delivering activities will inform our decisions and help us to shape more effective services and projects. This will help us and others on our journey for effective collaboration and co-production.

We work closely with IFF Research, Sport England, and our members to ensure that our Annual Survey provides the robust and detailed insight needed to achieve fairness for disabled people in sport and activity.

We will release our report for the Annual Disability and Activity Survey 2022-23 in June 2023, following the release of Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey report in April.

Progress made on 2021-22 survey recommendations

Last year’s Annual Disability and Activity Survey report was released in June 2022. Since then, Activity Alliance has collaborated with partners to make positive progress towards each recommendation highlighted in the report.

Recommendation 1: ‘Involve me as we recover from the pandemic’.

• • In October 2022, we published new qualitative insight on disabled people’s experience since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted - View our Inclusive recovery report.
  • Internally, we have developed our own co-production tools for research projects, and have started to form a network of disabled people to work with us. 
  • We have collaborated with several organisations including The FA and Haringey Council to ensure disabled people are at the heart of the decision-making for their research projects.
  • We utilised our national survey insight to highlight the need for inclusion during media opportunities and responses to Government strategies and committee reports.
  • We adapted the delivery of our Get Out Get Active programme to reach isolated communities and improve the fitness of more than 3,000 participants.

Recommendation 2: ‘Support me to feel like being active is for someone like me’.

• We continue to challenge societal perceptions and advocate for increased representation of disabled people, through our own presence on local and national networks, supporting equality, diversity and inclusion plans, engagement through our regional representatives, and inclusive marketing.
• We prioritise the diversification of our own workforce. We successfully delivered several inclusive recruitment campaigns that resulted in higher levels of disabled people applying and being selected for employment with Activity Alliance.

Recommendation 3: ‘Your workforce can make it a better experience for me’.

• We recently refreshed our Inclusive Activity Programme eLearning module content and made the online learning option available to all - Read news story about Inclusive Activity Programme.
• We have taken on two collaborative research projects with an NGB and local authority to gather new insight on the values and principles of inclusive leaders and workforces.

Recommendation 4: ‘Involve the health professionals I trust the most’.

• We are building strong relationships with the health sector, including: the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, health charities, and Regional Social Prescribing Leads.
• We are planning for future research activities to gain more detailed insight on the importance of health professionals. This will include exploratory desk research and co-production workshops, followed by a larger project in 2023-24.
• Internally, we have appointed a new staff member and Board member with health sector experience to provide greater expertise in this area.

Here, Claudia Russell from Nottingham City Council explains how our Annual Disability and Activity Survey influences their sport and leisure services and ensure they keep disabled people’s voices at the heart of their programming.

Watch video of Claudia Russell talking about impact of the Annual Disability and Activity Survey

More information

Activity Alliance’s Annual Disability and Activity Survey complements Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey. With the focus on disabled people, it goes into greater detail on people’s perceptions, experiences and important issues.

For research enquiries please email Jessica Flavell, Senior Research and Insight Advisor or call Jessica on 07817 787542.