£277,720 boost for disability sport in Peterborough
Disabled people in Peterborough will have more opportunities to get involved in sport after Inspire Peterborough, a Disability Peterborough project, today received £277,720 of funding from Sport England’s Inclusive Sport fund.
The project is one of 44 across England that will benefit from £8.06 million of National Lottery investment from Sport England to open up more opportunities for disabled people to play sport.
Inspire Peterborough will use its funding to become the leading disability sporting partnership in Peterborough, improving the mental and physical health and well-being of everyone involved. Being the coordinating hub enabling effective creative partnerships between disabled people, their families and carers, charities and sporting organisations, in order to achieve significant increases in the numbers of people participating in disability sporting and leisure activities.
Councillor Irene Walsh, Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion, Safety and Public Health, said:
“I am delighted to be able to announce the news that Inspire Peterborough has been successful in bidding to Sport England for funding to deliver a range of disability sporting opportunities in Peterborough. It has been a huge privilege to have been involved with the Inspire project right from the beginning. For me, this project is about making a reality the inspiration we all felt after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. With the Sport England support we now have we are well on course to deliver our vision. We want to make Peterborough a city where a wide choice of disability sporting and recreational activities is integrated within our city-wide offer. We are supported by local people with disabilities, their families and carers, who are very much part of this project and we know they are keen to take advantage of the new activities being generated through Inspire’s work”.
Sandie Burns the CEO of Disability Peterborough (formally known as DIAL Peterborough) said:
“We are absolutely delighted with this award to make more sporting activities available for disabled people. The Inspire team have worked hard to make sport accessible and this project will not only help to improve sporting opportunities for disabled people in Peterborough, but also improve health, self-confidence and quality of life. Many disabled people get involved in sport as a hobby or interest; some compete professionally or at highest levels, and this project aims to provide opportunities for all. We are very grateful to Sport England who have had the confidence in us to deliver this exciting new project.”
Furthermore, nine times Paralympic swimming Gold Medallist, Chris, now Lord Holmes, who was born in our city and is Patron of Inspire Peterborough said:
“This is a tremendous boost for the people of Peterborough, further enabling sporting opportunities across the city. The grant will mean more people, regardless of disability, will have the chance to try out and play sport and experience all the benefits that will bring. It’s such a tangible example of the legacy flowing from the London 2012 Paralympic Games.”
Sport England Director of Insight, Lisa O’Keefe, said:
“We are delighted to be able to help Inspire Peterborough provide more opportunities for disabled people to give sport a go. Record numbers of disabled people now play sport and it’s thanks to clubs like this that we can continue to improve opportunities and make a real difference in communities.”
The number of disabled people playing sport regularly is on the rise. In December 2013, Sport England’s Active People Survey – an annual, in-depth measure of the nation’s sporting habits – revealed that a record number of disabled people in England now play sport each week. However, non-disabled people are still twice as likely to play sport as disabled people (39.2 per cent compared to 18.5 per cent) which is why Sport England continues to focus attention and investment to address this imbalance.
Sport England‘s Inclusive Sport Fund supports programmes that aim to increase the number of disabled people playing sport. Since the fund launched, £17.1 million has been invested in 88 projects that make sport a viable lifestyle choice for disabled people.
As well as funding disability sport programmes, Sport England also funds equipment. In addition to today’s £8.06 million announcement, Sport England also recently awarded £1 million to 141 clubs across England to help them buy equipment to open up sport to disabled people.
In 2013, Sport England invested £2million into the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) to help accelerate our strategy to increase sports participation over two years. They have also directly funded six disability sports organisations to advise, support and guide other sports governing bodies as they create opportunities for participation by disabled people. British Blind Sport, Cerebral Palsy Sport, Dwarf Sport Association UK, WheelPower, UK Deaf Sport and Mencap Sport/Special Olympics GB all received a share of £1.3 million of National Lottery funding to make this happen.
