“When we backed the Breaking Barriers research, we wanted to hear what disabled teenage girls were really experiencing. Now we want to go further and let them lead the response. That’s what this panel is. Putting girls in the driving seat. Listening to her.”

Access Sport are excited to announce the creation of a new Disabled Young Women and Girls Panel, thanks to support from The Sweaty Betty Foundation.

Having previously partnered with The Sweaty Betty Foundation to create Breaking Barriers, a research project that showcased the barriers preventing disabled teenage girls from taking part in sport and exercise, this new project aims to deliver tangible change for disabled and neurodivergent young women across the wider community sport sector.

The Disabled Young Women and Girls Panel is a youth led initiative that will bring together disabled and neurodivergent young women and girls to co-design, influence and lead change across Access Sport's programmes.

Through this new panel, Access Sport and The Sweaty Betty Foundation will amplify the voices of disabled young women and girls and reinvent the sector to reflect their needs, in a way that delivers sustained change across the sector. This will include:

• Increasing the visibility and leadership of young women and girls in sport
• Removing barriers to participation through youth-led design and insight
• Supporting young women and girls to create inclusive practices in their own communities
• Building leadership skills, confidence and self-advocacy
• Supporting young women and girls to become changemakers in sport, both locally and nationally
• Creating clear pathways for long-term involvement within Access Sport.

Working together, Access Sport and The Sweaty Betty Foundation will give disabled young women and girls a space to share their lived experience, directly input into decision making and make real change in their communities.

Helen Rowbotham, Access Sport Chief Executive, commented:

“We are thrilled to renew our partnership with the Sweaty Betty Foundation. Our shared commitment to inclusion is the cornerstone of our partnership, so we are incredibly excited to launch this new panel, empowering more women and girls, from every background, to get active.”

Afsana Lachaux, Director of The Sweaty Betty Foundation, commented:

“When we backed the Breaking Barriers research, we wanted to hear what disabled teenage girls were really experiencing. Now we want to go further and let them lead the response. That’s what this panel is. Putting girls in the driving seat. Listening to her.”

Interested in supporting Access Sport and the Sweaty Betty Foundation’s new Disabled Young Women and Girls Panel?

Please email: [email protected]