Sport England and the charity Leonard Cheshire
Disability have joined forces to launch Yoodo Sports, a new project
to help people with disabilities take up and enjoy sport.
Yoodo Sports will bring disabled people
together with activity ‘buddies’ – people who may or may not have
an impairment themselves but want to help others play sport or be
active. This initiative will make it easier to find someone to
exercise with and have fun.
Just one in 15 people with a disability
regularly play sport in England. While this has increased in the
past five years, it still trails behind participation rates for
non-disabled people, with nearly one in five taking
part.
Barriers to participation exist for many
reasons; someone could feel embarrassed by the way they look, their
impairment might make it difficult to interact with other people or
they simply have no one to exercise with.
Leonard Cheshire Disability is calling on
people with a disability, a long term health condition or those
with a hidden disability who may not consider themselves disabled,
to join Yoodo Sports.
It is also encouraging volunteers or buddies
who enjoy sport, conversation and exercise to spare time to
motivate others and accompany them on a trip to the gym or
pool.
Sport England has invested £312,000 of
National Lottery funding in the Yoodo Sports project.
“It’s a concerning fact that if you have a
disability, you’re three times less likely to play sport than if
you don’t,” said Richard Lewis, Sport England’s Chair. “That can be
for a number of reasons such as a lack of opportunities and low
self confidence – and it’s these types of barriers that we need to
tackle to make sport accessible for everyone. That’s why Sport
England is backing Yoodo Sports. We want this project to help break
down the obstacles to playing sport so that it can be enjoyed by
anyone, regardless of ability.”
Yoodo Sports will be piloted in Yorkshire and
will run in Leeds, Bradford, Richmond, Catterick, Kirklees,
Huddersfield, Northallerton and Thirsk and be rolled out across
England in 2012.
“People with disabilities often face the
serious challenges of changing people’s perceptions of who they are
and what they can do. Beginning a new sport or pastime is no
exception,” said Jane Jutsum, Leonard Cheshire Disability
Innovative Projects Director. “In 2010 Leonard Cheshire Disability
surveyed over 1100 people both disabled and non-disabled for it’s’
survey Barriers to Sports Participation which revealed views like:
I need someone to keep me company and motivated.
Jane added:
“Yoodo Sports challenges those stereotypes and
enables people who want to get started to match with an activity
buddy or group who will help them have fun, and discover the
motivation to participate in regular exercise. The initiative is
open to all adults with disabilities and we would also like to
recruit volunteers to become a buddy.”
The Fitness Industry Association (FIA) is also
backing the campaign, with member clubs offering disabled people
discounted membership.
It is easy for anybody over the age of 18 to be a part of Yoodo
Sports. You can call 08456 717173 (local rate telephone number) or
visit the Yoodo Sports
website
You can watch
the launch video on the Yoodo Sports website
1 Sport England Active People Survey 4 (October
2009-2010
2 Leonard Cheshire Disability
Barriers to Sports Survey 2010