Our Inclusive Adventure programme aims to break down barriers that currently exist and improve access and opportunities in outdoor activities for people with disabilities.
We are challenging disabled people, their family and friends to give an outdoor adventure activity a go. Activities will include sailing, canoeing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding (SUP), climbing, hill walking, cycling, rowing and many more.
The aim of the initiative is to increase participation of disabled people across our regions. In 2014, Disability Sport Wales quoted that 24% of the population of Wales are disabled, of which, only 3.4% participate in sport and recreation in North Wales.
The insport Club programme is part of the broader insport project delivered by Disability Sport Wales, which aims to support the physical activity, sport, and leisure sectors delivering inclusively of disabled people.
The purpose for insport club is therefore to support clubs in developing their provision so that it includes disabled people within clubs’ structures which provide the best opportunities to the community, increase participation and membership, enable larger sections of the community to become involved within a voluntary governance role, and continue to provide great sport across Wales.
For more information or to see if your club is eligible, visit the Disability Sport Wales website
A new inclusive Climbing Club was established by The Outdoor Partnership in November 2022.
The club was set up after a series of inclusive climbing taster sessions in Powys and Gwent revealed how keen everyone was to access their local climbing centre. The club is for anyone with sensory, intellectual or physical impairments or chronic health conditions to climb and we encourage parents and volunteers to get involved too. Funding from Morrisons Foundation and Sport Powys has enabled these sessions to take place and Llangorse Multi Activity Centre has now become the unofficial home of the inclusive climbing club.
Held at Dale, Pembrokeshire, this unique event was run in conjunction with three local providers, giving a taste of a range of activities, from paddleboarding and swimming to beach activities such as foraging and rock pooling. These accessible opportunities allowed families to come along and participate together to find an outdoor activity they all enjoy and can continue together.
We also invited other organisations, such as Ross Handling who bought some amazing specialized equipment with them to try out, and Cerebra Charity who are dedicated to helping families of children living with brain injuries. This allowed opportunities for participants and their families to share information as well as fun in and around the water.
Many thanks to all our collaborators who ran this fantastic event alongside us: Celtic Deep, Windswept Watersports, Wild Swim Wales, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and the RNLI.
Inclusive Coach Education
We aim to support existing community-based outdoor activity clubs by organising and subsidising disability specific training. Clubs who have an interest in becoming more inclusive can develop the club by working through the insport accreditation by Disability Sport Wales. Training support can include;
- Disability Inclusion Training
- BCU Paddle-ability
- Climbing for All
- Sailability
- Coaching Rider with a Disability (Level 2)
“Climbing for All” is a one day course, accredited by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), providing an introduction to instructing disabled people in climbing. It gives instructors the tools to engage disabled people more effectively in climbing.
The aim of the course is to provide increased climbing opportunities for disabled people by providing climbing instructors with more skills and confidence in delivering sessions.
Courses have been organised by development officers in many of our regions, including Gilford Climbing Wall, Northern Ireland, The Rock Climbing Wall in Harlech, Gwynedd, Summit Centre in Merthyr Tudfil, Llangorse Multi Activity Centre and Dynamic Rock in Swansea. This has created a pool of educated and trained instructors and volunteers who are eager and able to include people with varying disabilities into the activity of rock climbing.
Due to the increased demand for “Climbing for All” workshops to be delivered in Wales, Wales-based Andy Cummings of Manzoku Climbing and Mountaineering has also now been approved to deliver these courses, which is great news for inclusive climbing in Wales.
Many thanks to Paul Kellagher, Ricky Bell, Graeme Hill and Andy Cummings for all their help with this work.
In March 2021, The Outdoor Partnership became the first third sector organisation to achieve the Disability Sport Wales Insport Silver Accreditation.
We are currently striving to achieve the Gold Accreditation.
