Sports Club for all disabled people in Southwark

Aim

To give disabled people in Southwark the chance to enjoy life-changing weekly sports activities, improving physical and mental health

Why do we need your support?

Physical challenges

Only 17% of disabled people play sport once a week - half as much as non-disabled people. This greatly increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke among disabled people.

You are also more likely to have cancer if you are disabled. only 31% of eligible women with a learning disability have a smear test, compared to 73% of women without a learning disability and increasing the risk of undetected cervical cancer.

Mental health

Nearly half of all disabled people are chronically lonely, with a staggering 67% feeling lonely over the last 12 months. Disabled people are more likely to suffer from loneliness, isolation and depression.

Sadly, the combination of loneliness and lack of exercise means the average age of death among people with a learning disability is currently 65 for men and 63 for women - significantly less than 78 for men and 83 for women among the general population.

How do we make a difference?

Disability Sports Coach provides life-changing sport and physical activity opportunities for disabled people in London.  We run 14 Community Clubs across London offering weekly sport and physical activity sessions, improving physical health while bringing disabled people of all ages together with others to reduce feelings of isolation.

We also train coaches to run inclusive activity sessions so more disabled people can
participate in sports. Over the last three years, we have trained 6,000 coaches. Our coaches develop confidence, communication and physical skills. Since 2013, we have transformed the lives of 19,000 disabled people.

How will your funding help?

While we are proud of our reach, there is much more to do - there are 1.4 million disabled people in London.  A big area of focus is reaching isolated disabled people through working with housing associations. 

In Southwark, we know from our initial conversations with one housing association that they have over 60 disabled people on their estates – none of whom currently attend our club but have told their area manager they are keen to get more active and feel connected to the community.

With over a dozen housing associations in Southwark, there are potentially hundreds of disabled people who we are yet to reach and who feel isolated in their community

With just six full-time staff, we have limited capacity to develop promotional material, meet key contacts and visit estates and deliver taster disability sport sessions. Your support means we can reach 100 more disabled people to join our life-changing club, improving physical health, reducing isolation and making people feel part of their community.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 1st September 2020