Encouraging signs of progress, but people living with disabilities continue to face substantial barriers to being active

Every year for the last six years, the Activity Alliance has undertaken a major piece of research.

The headlines are encouraging, but deeper within the findings, there are still concerns around accessibility, affordability, wellbeing and belonging.

The survey is vital to the work of Active Sussex.

It helps us and our partners understand some of the lived experience of one of our core priority groups: those who have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.

Around 18.2 per cent of the Sussex population experience barriers for day-today activities.

With a further 7.9 per cent of people who have “day-to-day activities are not limited”, but still have a long-term physical or mental health condition.

This is cumulatively higher (26.1 per cent) than both the English (24.1 per cent) and South East (23.7 per cent) averages.

The challenges are not around educating people on the benefits of physical activity.

We know that people living with disabilities are more likely to want to do more physical activity (67 per cent compared to 54 cent of non-disabled people).

But sadly, the reality is they are less likely to feel they have the opportunity to be as active as they would like (52 per cent compared to 74 per cent of non-disabled people).

The survey, now in its sixth year, explores disabled people’s perceptions and experiences of sport and physical activity.

It combines responses from more than 1,000 people living with disabilities and 1,000 non-disabled people across the UK with in-depth discussions about the realities of taking part. The following points are some more findings:

• Disabled people consistently reported poorer wellbeing outcomes than non-disabled people, with higher levels of anxiety, lower life satisfaction and greater feelings of loneliness. 
• Almost half (46%) of disabled people said the increased cost of living has reduced how active they are. 
• Disabled people are less likely to feel they belong in sport and activity settings and less likely to see people like themselves volunteering, coaching or working in the sector. Participants said seeing disabled people in leadership and delivery roles helps create environments where people feel understood, welcomed and valued. 
• Disabled people described choosing activity spaces and sessions less on preference alone and more on what felt manageable, predictable and safe.

Visit the Annual Survey page to read the executive summary and full survey report to explore the findings and recommendations in more detail.