At a parliamentary reception on Tuesday 29 April, Tim Loughton saw first-hand how more than £170 million of funding is being invested by Sport England in programmes and projects to create more opportunities for disabled people to play sport.
Tim said: “The investment being made by Sport England into disability sport, especially in East Worthing and Shoreham is fantastic. It’s been great to see first-hand the work Sport England is doing to create more opportunities for disabled to play sport in our community.”
The reception was also a chance for MPs to watch and join in a game of boccia and have a go on an adapted rowing machine. The demonstrations were run by Motivate East and London Youth Rowing, two Sport England funded organisations. Motivate East provide a variety of inclusive sports, including athletics and badminton, across the London 2012 host boroughs; while sports charity London Youth Rowing offer a number of indoor and on-water rowing options for young disabled people.
With a record number of 1.67 million disabled people currently playing sport every week, Sport England invest in a wide range of projects, accessible facilities and specialist equipment to make sport open to everyone, including:
· £5.2 million in four Paralympic sport governing bodies
· £92.2 million in 38 sport governing bodies with inclusive participation programmes
· £18.2 million from the Inclusive Sport fund in 88 disability sport projects
· £1.1 million from the Get Equipped fund in 141 projects for disability sports equipment
· £40 million investment to make sports facilities fully accessible.