JONNIE’S PLEA FOR A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Peacock leading demands for disabled athletes to be given equal opportunities.
JONNIE PEACOCK has has warned disa-disa bled people cannot be treated as an ‘after-thought’ and insists the government must be held to account over its promises of equality as sport returns this spring. Prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday outdoor sport can return in England from March 29 with a phased resumption of indoor sport, but the fear for organisations such as Activity Alliance is disability sport will be left behind.
And Metro columnist Peacock, who aims to complete a hat-trick of Paralympic gold medals in Tokyo this year, is leading the calls for disabled people to be taken into consideration when leisure centres, gyms and sports facilities reopen.
He has given his support to Metro’s campaign to help and celebrate grassroots sport, which continues today with a special supplement focusing on disability sport. Peacock writes: ‘I hope that, because disability sport has extra barriers, it is not an after-thought in the government’s return to sport plans.
‘That would be heartbreaking. All we want is to be treated as equals – no judgement on appearance, no preconceived notion of anything. Just the same access to sport for disabled people as for everyone else. The government has made statements about equality and where disability sits in that. Now they have to stand by their words and help everyone, not just a few.’
Activity Alliance, which works with sporting governing bodies to ensure disabled people are included in leisure activities, has painted a stark picture of the issues facing inclusive sport.
Asked whether disabled people could be forgotten as sport comes back, chief executive Barry Horne said: ‘It is a real fear. It’s about immediacy, it’s not rocket science as to what people have to do.
‘It’s about having a different attitude to disabled people. If you can’t use this evidence from day one of the return, the consequences could be so severe we may well never recover.’
Horne stressed the need for action, not just words. Activity Alliance’s annual survey found twice as many disabled people felt coronavirus greatly reduced their
ability to do sport or physical activity compared to non-disabled people (27 per cent to 13 per cent).
‘We can’t just intend it to happen,’ added Horne. ‘We have to prioritise this from day one. Sport and activity is good for your physical and mental health and is a preventative measure for a whole range of things.
‘Disabled people are the least active group in society, so why are we not saying more that this group should be included, not excluded, from activity?’
The pandemic has made more disabled people feel they do not have the opportunity to be as active as they want to, compared to non-disabled people (29 per cent versus 44 per cent), according to the figures.
Horne believes it could be a long road back. ‘I think it’s a three-year strategy to get back and start making positive progress again,’ he said.
‘It’s a generation before the existence of this report and of an organisation like mine become irrelevant because everybody has got the fact that of course you would just include disabled people and here’s how we do it, and it works. It’s a long-term project but if we don’t start on day one, we have very little chance.’
Its survey found a lack of activity during the pandemic has led to respondents finding physical and mental health harder to manage, plus loneliness and social isolation.
Horne continued: ‘We were making good progress (before the virus) – numbers and confidence levels were going up, so it’s a slap in the face.
‘We must include disabled people as we return to provision and given that level of need it would be particularly disappointing if we didn’t.’
Activity Alliance, the leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity, has released the findings of their Annual Disability and Activity Survey. The new research highlights the impact of Covid-19 on disabled people’s activity. To read the full report, visit activityalliance.org.uk