Learning from our Active People Survey

4 Feb 2015 03:02 PM

We only get sight of the Active People Survey figures 24 hours before we publish them so it is only now that we can analyse them properly. Over the next few weeks we will be getting under the skin of the data, to understand the trends and the impact our investments in community sport are having.

One such pool of data is around disability sport, where figures showed 121,700 fewer disabled people are playing sport regularly – 1.58 million compared to the record high the previous year of 1.68 million.

The result is extremely concerning. We need to understand what is happening here. So for example we are looking at whether the decrease is across all impairment groups or focussed in particular ones.

We will also continue to work with a wide range of organisations which support disabled people and those with long-term conditions to ensure that sport is a practical and attractive option for disabled people.

Partners include:

• Mind – £1.5 million to help people with mental health conditions get into sports and physical activity
• Down’s Syndrome Association – £290,145 to help people aged 18 and over with Down’s Syndrome play football or tennis
• YMCA England – £926,984 to help young disabled people play sport alongside their non-disabled counterparts.