Welcome to the Disability Rights UK “Get Yourself Active” Newsletter
Welcome to the latest edition of the Get Yourself Active newsletter. This is our round up of what the Get Yourself Active team and our partners have been up to during the month of August – along with some opportunities that we hope will be of interest. You’ll hear more from us next month!
Get Yourself Active launching new Social Care resource with online webinar
We are really proud to have launched a new online pack designed for carers, support workers and personal assistants who support Disabled people and people with long term health conditions. It was designed with experts in the social care and physical activity sectors including Durham University, Sport England, Sense, Sport for Confidence, Activity Alliance and Community integrated care. It will help to facilitate further Disabled participation in physical activity by educating and empowering those who care to help Disabled people get active in a way that suits them.
Get Yourself Active decided to target carers and support workers because of their roles as essential and trusted messengers to those who they care for. Ultimately, if they understand more about the importance of physical activity and what is on offer then they will be better placed to support a Disabled person to lead a more active life.
The interactive pack offers practical help, tips and advice that can be used to support Disabled people to participate more in sport and physical activity. It is free and available online for all – designed to be shared and consumed with the sole purpose of breaking barriers to disabled participation in physical activity. It also includes interactive worksheets that social care staff and the people they support can use to encourage conversations around the importance of physical activity and how they can make the next steps to live a more active life.
We launched the pack with an informative webinar. The event covered why and how the pack was developed, how it helps social care staff support Disabled people to get active, and what you’ll find inside the pack.
Your Stories in August
Every month we ask our community to share their experiences of getting active in a way that’s right for them, their thoughts on the latest news or what sport and physical activity mean to them.
We want to share their stories online to help raise awareness of the different ways of getting active and help other Disabled people feel confident and empowered to take the first steps to a more active life.
One of this month’s highlights has been launching our Paralympics series. For this we spoke to some our partners and friends for a diverse range of thoughts, opinions and memories of the games:
1. Anna Morell, Media and Communications Manager at Disability Rights UK told us why this years games need to be the start of real change
2. Roy Kimberley, Fit 4 Life at the Disability Resource Centre, shared his thoughts on the enduring legacy of the 2012 Paralympic games
3. Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy at Disability Rights UK touches on her own relationship to the games and what sport and physical activity means to her
And we are finishing the series next week with a final special guest post.. stay tuned for that!
We’ve covered so much this month, and you can access all our stories here.
Tackling Inequalities Fund by Sport England – update
Over the summer the Get Yourself Active team has continued to deliver Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund and what a busy summer it has been! Over the past month, we have partnered with several new organisations, bringing the total number of TIF projects that Disability Rights UK has administered funding to 47, supporting over 2,000 participants.
One of the most recent organisations we have partnered with is an East London based charity called Misgav. Misgav is a charity that supports Disabled women in London by providing a haven that offers opportunities for growth, integration, and acceptance. Misgav will be running a series of swimming and dance sessions that we’re excited to be supporting!
Out of the 47 projects DR UK has administered funding to, 16 have now come to an end. It has been wonderful reading the end of project evaluation forms that the organisations have sent us and hearing the positive impacts these projects have had on helping to improve Disabled people’s physical and mental wellbeing. The evaluation forms have also provided us with some extremely valuable learning, highlighting just how important the social element of physical activity is in helping to combat social isolation caused by the pandemic.
To finish, the team is still accepting applications for The Tackling Inequalities Fund and is particularly keen to hear from Disabled Peoples User Led Organisations that support the people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities community. So, if you know of any that may be interested in applying please let us know at tacklinginequalities@disabilityrightsuk.org
Click here to find out more about the Tackling Inequalities and other Sport England funds
Active at Home
We understand that many of you may feel more comfortable getting active at home.
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our Active @ Home section on our website. We’ve recently added a range of new accessible content from Videos to Toolkits so you can get active in a way that suits you. The page also includes videos from some of our TIF partners. As well as this, we have pages dedicated to other resources, such as worksheets and downloadable resources.
We want this page to always work for you and for that we need your help too. If there’s a resource you’d like to see more of – or you have a video of your own you think would be of interest to others in the community please reach out to the team.
The Active@Home section of the website is available here
The truth of Disabled sports fandom
Level Playing Field, a charity that focuses on removing barriers for Disabled people wishing to follow live sports as fans, has revealed the results of its annual fan survey. The organisation believes that attending and engaging with live sporting events has a positive impact on well-being. They work at every level to ensure that Disabled fans can freely access and enjoy live sport.
The report aims to receive greater feedback year on year, helping to drive change towards better access and inclusion for Disabled sports fans. Although the charity has carried out many specific surveys in the past, this is the most comprehensive survey ever, reviewing the matchday experience of Disabled fans. The survey is a first of its kind, with a strong focus on club-specific feedback that will help clubs target specific areas to improve their facilities and services.
Halifax Wheelchair Rugby League Club 