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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.¹

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.²

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

Join Yoodo Sports
Call 08456 717173 (local rate telephone number) or visit the Yoodo Sports website