There are 1.2 million D/deaf and disabled people in London³ and they “are more likely to experience poverty and inequality than people who are not disabled”⁴

London may be the UK’s largest and wealthiest city, but it is also the most unequal. London has the highest rate of child poverty of any English region¹. It is also the most ethnically diverse region in the UK, where over 40% of residents identified as belonging to either the Asian, Black, Mixed or Other ethnic group²

There are 1.2 million D/deaf and disabled people in London³ and they “are more likely to experience poverty and inequality than people who are not disabled”⁴

Our mission is to transform the community sport offer across London, making inclusion the norm by tackling the access barriers currently faced by disadvantaged and disabled young people. Working in partnership, we are training, equipping and supporting community sports clubs, organisations and volunteers from all London boroughs to provide inclusive sports offers, unleashing their potential to transform the lives of underserved young people in their local communities.

Access Sport has been doing this in Greater London since 2007. In that time, we have developed inclusive community sports clubs in 26 of the capital’s 33 boroughs, including the creation of 14 free-to-use community cycling facilities in the city’s most diverse and underserved communities. Due to our multi-sport approach, we have worked across a variety of sports in London, including athletics, basketball, boxing, dance, football, frame running, parkour, judo, taekwondo, tennis and yoga (as well as our sport specific offers within cycling and hockey).

We continue to activate these facilities and work with partners to ensure that accessible and inclusive offers are available to the local community. We are currently transforming the disability inclusion offer in southeast London, working closely with community sports clubs in the boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark to ensure that D/deaf and disabled young people and their families have access to a breadth of local sports opportunities.

Access Sport also spearheads Disability Sports Networks across the London Boroughs

We play a pivotal role in steering the Disability Sports Networks in Southwark (SISPAN) and Lewisham (Lewisham DSN). These networks consist of stakeholders from the sports, education and health sectors, as well as community clubs, parent/carers and volunteers. Through shared learnings and collaboration, these networks’ work to ensure that all D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people living within Lewisham and Southwark have access to community sport and physical activity.

If you'd like to find out more about our work in London please contact Sophie:
[email protected]
0207 993 9883

References:

¹ https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty-london-facts

² https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/regional-ethnic-diversity/latest#:~:text=The%20data%20shows%20that%3A,Mixed%20or%20Other%20ethnic%20group

³ Inclusion London Annual report 2020/21 https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Inclusion-London-Annual-Report-ER-2020-2021.pdf

⁴https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/issues/people/disabled-people/

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