This section has been provided by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS), the national sports body for disabled people throughout England. EFDS and their partners, including the National Disability Sports Organisations (NDSOs), deliver a wide range of programmes to increase participation of disabled people in sport. Successful EFDS programmes include Disability Sport Events, the Active Kids for All Community and Inclusive PE training programmes as well as the Inclusive Fitness Initiative.

It’s generally accepted that the incredible success of the London 2012 Paralympic Games has led to changing perceptions about disability and sport, and with this year's Commonwealth Games aiming to be fully integrated in terms of non-disabled and disability sport, it would be great if as many Community Games events as possible could ‘go the extra mile’ to enable disabled people to fully take part.

Sharing great ideas and better practices ensures disabled people have access to a wide range of inclusive opportunities. You can find out the contacts for the NDSOs and more about EFDS’s great work on their website www.efds.co.uk

Providing an inclusive offer

Here are a few tips to think about in your planning:

Involve disabled people

Include a disabled person as part of your planning group. Perhaps you could share your ideas with local groups and organisations who work with disabled people. Run your plans passed them and see what they think.

Get advice from others

Seek advice and opinions from the providers who have done it before. They may have great tips on attracting disabled people, which you could use in your plans. Once developed, let others read your plans and provide their input.

Think different roles

Disabled people can be participants and volunteers too, so do not restrict your plans to one element.

Shout about your success

Your plans could help others to do the same for disabled people somewhere else. EFDS and other partners would love to hear your stories.

Things change

As our environment changes, disabled people change too. Regularly assess and monitor disabled people’s needs in relation to your Games.

EFDS’s Inclusion Club Hub can provide some great support and advice. Created for clubs, other providers can gain handy hints and ideas to ensure your games are inclusive. www.inclusion-club-hub.co.uk

Signposting

To contact a National Disability Sport Organisation, see the list below:

British Blind Sport (BBS) www.britishblindsport.org.uk or telephone 01926 424247

Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport) www.cpsport.org or telephone 0115 9257027

Dwarf Sports Association UK www.dsauk.org or telephone 01246 296485

Mencap Sport www.mencap.org.uk/sport or sport@mencap.org.uk

Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) www.sogb.org.uk or telephone 020 7247 8891

UK Deaf Sport (UKDS) www.ukdeafsport.org.uk or email office@ukds.org.uk

WheelPower www.wheelpower.org.uk Email info@wheelpower.org.uk or telephone 01296 395995

Useful resources

EFDS has produced and promotes a wide range of resources to help you learn more about inclusive sport. http://www.efds.co.uk/resources. Key resources include:

• Engaging disabled people in sport information pack
• Research and insight on disabled people in sport
• Language and etiquette guidance
• Good practice case studies
• Active Kids for All community training