Getting more disabled people into sports and volunteering

Ten sports clubs and organisations across Derbyshire are to benefit from free training to help increase the number of disabled people volunteering across the county.

Run by Derbyshire Sport, the IMPACT volunteering project aims to create more sports volunteering opportunities for disabled people whilst increasing their confidence and skills.

The programme will help understand whether having more disabled volunteers supporting a club helps increase disability participation, a key target of Sport England who are funding this project.

A volunteer recruitment campaign is set to take place within ‘Inclusive Volunteer Month’ in June to encourage disabled people to volunteer as well as providing training opportunities for the clubs who the volunteers will be deployed to.

Within the month, Derbyshire Sport will work with local voluntary services and other partners to encourage disabled people to sign up to the project and start their journey as a sports volunteer.

Matthew Dalley, Derbyshire Para-Equestrian rider and has gained many benefits from his own volunteering experience at his riding club where he started helping in the yard and now runs the club’s social media and website.

When speaking about his volunteering journey, Matthew said: “I am committed to helping other disabled people benefit from an involvement in sport, both as a participant and volunteer.

“Through my own volunteering I aim to show that my disability isn’t a barrier to helping make a difference and I encourage others to take the opportunity to get involved with the IMPACT project so they can benefit like I have.”

Sport Development Officer for Derbyshire Sport, Rachael Dyer, said: “it is important to reflect the broad spectrum of people that we are aiming to recruit by providing a varied training programme.

“Clubs and their volunteers will have the opportunity to develop a range of skills and knowledge on how to effectively engage with disabled people who are getting involved in their club in a voluntary capacity.

“The IMPACT project will help Derbyshire clubs and volunteers better understand how to effectively engage with disabled people and to help raise their awareness of what makes an inclusive club”.

Four counties will be involved in the project across the East Midlands; Lincolnshire Sport, Northamptonshire Sport and Sport Nottinghamshire will all be working alongside Derbyshire to get more disabled people volunteering across the region.

The four counties are sharing a £59,200 investment into the region that was awarded by Sport England in late 2015.

For more information on the project please contact Rachael.dyer@derbyshire.gov.uk