A survey by the Sport and Recreation Alliance says that 96 per cent of UK Gyms report no increase in disabled membership since the Paralympic Games.
One of the biggest issues facing disabled people remains a lack of physical access, along with a significant skills gap within the leisure industry when it comes to working with people with varying impairments.
Less than a quarter of clubs said they had suitable facilities for disabled people to participate, suitably trained staff or the appropriate equipment, indicating that three quarters of clubs need some form of additional support in order to facilitate disabled participation.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of Great Britain’s most successful Paralympians, told Disability Now's The Download that the problems are deep-rooted.
“There are still barriers for disabled people doing sport and joining clubs, whether it’s physical access or attitudinal access, from the disabled people as much as from the clubs. If you put that together with the fact that most disabled people have had a pretty bad experience of sport in school, they probably don’t know what to do, and it’s quite hard to ask. And then you’ve got the barriers of physical access and then sometimes people are a bit grumpy and they’re not very helpful, it is really, really hard to do it."
Baroness Grey-Thompson says that the leisure industry can do more to attract disabled people.
"I think gyms can do more. I think governing bodies can do way more. But also it comes back into school, unless you do some sport through school, unless your parents encourage you it’s not easy. And that cycle is going to take a very long time to break down.”
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of ParalympicsGB, conceded that many clubs and gyms had more work to do, but objected to the survey’s findings on participation.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE BY PAUL CARTER: http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/article/paralympics-legacy-what-legacy
SOURCE: www.disabilitynow.org.uk
Less than a quarter of clubs said they had suitable facilities for disabled people to participate, suitably trained staff or the appropriate equipment, indicating that three quarters of clubs need some form of additional support in order to facilitate disabled participation.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of Great Britain’s most successful Paralympians, told Disability Now's The Download that the problems are deep-rooted.
“There are still barriers for disabled people doing sport and joining clubs, whether it’s physical access or attitudinal access, from the disabled people as much as from the clubs. If you put that together with the fact that most disabled people have had a pretty bad experience of sport in school, they probably don’t know what to do, and it’s quite hard to ask. And then you’ve got the barriers of physical access and then sometimes people are a bit grumpy and they’re not very helpful, it is really, really hard to do it."
Baroness Grey-Thompson says that the leisure industry can do more to attract disabled people.
"I think gyms can do more. I think governing bodies can do way more. But also it comes back into school, unless you do some sport through school, unless your parents encourage you it’s not easy. And that cycle is going to take a very long time to break down.”
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of ParalympicsGB, conceded that many clubs and gyms had more work to do, but objected to the survey’s findings on participation.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE BY PAUL CARTER: http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/article/paralympics-legacy-what-legacy
SOURCE: www.disabilitynow.org.uk
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