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More to do as latest figures reveal static participation numbers for disabled people

The latest Sport England Active People Survey results (10 December 2015) reveal that the overall number of people playing sport has increased. However, although showing a slight seasonal increase since the last recording, the number of active disabled people remains significantly less than that for non-disabled people. The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) believes these results show again a need to understand and respond to disabled people’s needs and preferences much more effectively.

During the period October 2014 –September 2015:

  • 1.58 million people aged 16 years and over with a long term limiting illness or disability (17.2 %) played sport once a week. This is 17,500 more than the March 2015 result, 19,800 fewer than the October 2014 result, and an increase of 242,200 compared with APS1.
  • Amongst people with a long term limiting illness or disability aged 14 years and over1.67 million (17.7%) played sport once a week.

This is compared to:

  • 14.16 million people aged 16 years and over without a long term limiting illness or disability (39.6%) played sport once a week, 227,700 more people than 6 months ago, 43,000 more people than 12 months ago, and an increase of 1.41 million compared with APS1.

Sport England reports more women are getting active, but there's more to be done for disabled people and those on lower incomes. The results for women support the need to think about target audiences as individual consumers, understanding the things that get in the way of their taking part in sport and their motivations.

Jennie Price, Chief Executive, Sport England said:

“It’s good news that more women are playing sport, and driving an overall increase in the numbers. It’s particularly great to see This Girl Can is making a real difference. That’s because we’ve really focused on what drives women’s attitudes and behaviours.

“If we’re to see a further step change in the total number of people playing sport, we need to take a similar, consumer-focused approach in areas where the figures are stubbornly low, like disability and lower socio-economic groups.”

Sport England notes the requirement for a change in approach and focus on the needs of individual consumers, which is seen starkly in the figures for lower socio-economic groups and disabled people, where the numbers are low and remain static:

  • Lower socio economic groups – 25.9 per cent of people in the lowest socio economic groups (known as NSSEC 5-8) play sport once a week, a very small increase on the 25.7 per cent in June 2015. This compares to more affluent socio economic groups where 39.1 per cent of people are now active.
  • Disabled people – 17,500 more disabled people are playing sport once a week, now at 1.58 million (17.2 per cent), meaning that a disabled person is still half as likely to play sport as a non-disabled person.

The latest figures show a positive picture for sports and activities, which are good at using customer insight to decide what activities they should offer and can respond quickly to market trends.

Insight shows that low numbers of active disabled people is not down to lack of interest. In EFDS’s 2013 Lifestyle Report, seven in ten disabled people said they want to be more active.

Research shows, through EFDS’s Motivate Me and Talk to Me reports, that whilst many opportunities exist, the low participation level can be that either disabled people are unaware of opportunities available to them or the activities offered are not appealing enough.

Disabled people count for one in five of our population- a large proportion of everyone’s community. Therefore, EFDS believes all providers have a responsibility to find new, exciting and accessible approaches that support inactive people with a wide range of impairments.

Barry Horne, Chief Executive for EFDS, responded to the results:

“The figures today confirm what EFDS continues to reiterate. It is not an easy task to attract and engage so many inactive disabled people in to meaningful activity. It will take long-term commitment to change the behaviours of both providers and disabled people.

“Barriers to participation are often intrinsic to disabled people’s personal needs and experiences. This means, there is still significant amount of work to do until more disabled people can or choose to adopt an active lifestyle.

“We agree with Jennie Price that more consumer-focused approaches are needed. With continued investment, our work and ongoing insight can help guide organisations to engage more disabled people effectively.”

The Active People Survey showed that swimming had dipped again in the overall population, which has consistently been the top participation sport for disabled people. For more detail on the figures for specific sports and impairment groups, please visit our research pages.

The number of people playing sport is tracked continuously through Active People – the largest survey of sport and active recreation ever carried out in Europe. Visit the Sport England Who plays sport? pages for all the latest figures.