Sport England has invested over
£170 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into sport
provision for disabled people, providing a wide range of projects, facilities
and specialist equipment for disabled people, including people with mental
health conditions. As many as one in four experience some kind of mental
health condition over the course of a year.
Our Inclusive Sport fund was
designed to give disabled people more opportunities to play sport by investing
in organisations with the right expertise, partnerships and links to the
disability sector. This includes funding for development and start-up costs of
new initiatives, and for education and training, so that groups can become more
self-sufficient in providing sporting opportunities. Since the fund was
launched in 2012, we have invested £18.2 million into 88 disability
sports projects countrywide.
For example, Rotherham United
Community Sports Trust recently received £168,141 to train
support staff and carers to provide further sporting opportunities for adults
with mental health conditions who previously have had limited access to playing
sport.
The Oxfordshire Active Body,
Healthy Mind project, run by the Oxford Sports
Partnershiphas also been awarded £262,928 to offer one-to-one and
group support to help people with significant long-term mental health
conditions to participate in regular sport, by reducing fear and building
confidence.
Sport England Director of
Insight, Lisa O’Keefe, said: “Sport can have enormously positive
impact on wellbeing. We are therefore delighted to support projects that help
those with mental health conditions by opening up opportunities for them to
enjoy the benefits that sport can bring.”
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