Get out and active this Disabled Access Day

This year, due to popular demand, the Disabled Access Day campaign will take place across three days on 10 - 12 March. The campaign began in 2015 as a day to celebrate good access and created opportunities for people to try something new. It is about highlighting the fantastic access that already exists in places, such as sensory experiences, level access and of course a warm welcome! To mark the Day, the national charity, the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS), is promoting the new Get Out Get Active programme. Together, partners are calling upon local providers to join in the fun and promote accessible activities.

Get Out Get Active (GOGA) is an exciting new programme supporting disabled and non-disabled people to enjoy being active together. GOGA, funded by Spirit of 2012, is running for over three years (2016-2019) and within 18 localities across the UK. They are:

• England: Bradford, Greater Manchester, Rochdale, Wigan, Thanet, East Lindsey, Lambeth, Wandsworth, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent
• Northern Ireland: Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Derry City and Strabane
• Scotland: Fife, Grampians (covering Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council), Forth Valley (covering Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling council areas)
• Wales: Pembrokeshire, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wrexham

EFDS has teamed up with an extensive range of partners to help reach more people, who have the greatest need to get out and get active. Working together, we aim to increase the number of people who are able to access and enjoy local opportunities. This could be through local authority, independent provision, sports clubs or volunteering. We want to motivate people by tapping into their values and the things that matter most to them including building friendships, maintaining health, having fun and progressing in life.

GOGA aims to:

• reach 16,500 individual participants, at least 40% of whom will remain active
• deliver over 30,000 sessions through 550 different activities
• recruit, train and involve over 2,000 volunteers
• improve confidence and competence through 500 training sessions

Disabled Access Day is sponsored by Euan’s Guide: a listing and review site that helps disabled people, their friends and families know which venues that are accessible.

Kiki MacDonald, Co-Founder of Euan's Guide, explains:

"We were inspired by the idea of Disabled Access Day and the potential for it to increase the numbers of conversations between venues and disabled people, as well as to raise the profile of disabled access. We were delighted by the backing from many venues, organisations and businesses that got involved, in particular their appetite to improve their own accessibility and to get more feedback from disabled people."

Do you want to start being active during the Disabled Access Day campaign? There is a selection of GOGA activities on offer. They include:

Bradford - Women's only activities/Family Fitness Night

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council - Lough Neagh Goalball

Derry City and Strabane Council - Foyle Sports Club/North West Goalball

Fife - Pitreavie Run, Jump and Throws/Swimming

Forth Valley - Parasport Event/Indoor Bowls

Grampians - Adapted Cycling

Manchester City - Inclusive Family Activity Sessions

Rochdale - Swimability/Bikes for All

Wigan - Inclusive Family Activity/Multi-skill Youth Zone

Lincolnshire - Bowls (Dementia Support/Talk Eat and Drink)

Nottingham City - Cycling for All/Disability Swimming

Stoke-on-Trent - Indoor Bowls/Drop-in Gym sessions

Wandsworth - Back to Netball/Beginner's running club/DIsability tennis roadshow

If you are interested in getting involved in GOGA, please contact the team on or call 01509 227750.