Inspired by 2012: The Legacy from the Paralympic and the Olympic Games – the second Annual Report on the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy has today been published by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
The report describes some great legacy stories from across the country in areas of Sport and Healthy Living, Regeneration of East London, Economic Growth, Bringing Communities Together and The Legacy from the Paralympics.
Chapter 6, page 73 of the report concentrates on the Legacy from the Paralympics and describes the Government’s long term aim of ensuring that “London 2012 provided an opportunity to drive forward the cause of disability equality by changing attitudes, improving access and opening up new possibilities across sport, culture and business.”
Headline achievements include:
• National Paralympic Day held on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 7 September 2013 • Sochi Paralympic Flame lit at Stoke Mandeville on 1 March 2014, and announcement that Stoke Mandeville will have a role in all future Paralympic flame ceremonies • Built Environment Professional Education project established to make inclusive design a key part of education and training for all built environment professionals • Disability Confident campaign launched to help employers tackle barriers to
employing disabled people• Aspire 2 magazines published to engage young disabled people in legacy and
disability issues• Over 6,000 disability sport sessions delivered through Motivate East in east London
Page 81 focuses on Inclusive Events and describes the intentions of the Paralympic Advisory Group and the ongoing work to support improvements;
The Paralympic Legacy Advisory Group felt it was important to build on the good practice in evidence during London 2012 to make the experience of attending sporting and cultural events better for disabled people, both at major flagship events and more regular events. The Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Unit, based in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has been looking at what can be done to support improvements in a number of areas:
• Making it easier for event organisers to find information about good practice, guidelines, tools and advice • Make it easier for disabled people to buy tickets for events • Make sure major sporting events build on the inclusive approach of London 2012 • Improving the experience for disabled spectators at more regular events, such as sports matches.
A joint project between the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, is underway to look at the accessibility of sporting stadia and what can be learned from London 2012. This will focus on understanding the barriers experienced by disabled sports fans, updating guidance on stadium accessibility and working with sports’ national governing bodies to find ways to improve the experience for disabled supporters.
In addition, work is underway to ensure that major sporting events supported by the UK Government learn from and build on the lessons of London 2012 in order to deliver an inclusive experience for all spectators.