Boccia England welcomes the recent publication of the UK Government’s National Disability Strategy which sets out immediate actions that they will undertake on the path towards their vision to transform disabled people’s everyday lives.

The Strategy also states a need to widen participation in sport and that sports venues have a duty to provide an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of everyone, irrespective of disability. We know that Sport England is committed to supporting the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to help address the inequalities faced by disabled people in sport and physical activity to help widen participation in sport.

However, we believe this cannot be achieved in isolation to the other everyday issues that disabled people face which leads to significant barriers to participation in sport. This is often beyond the remit of sport where disabled people face additional barriers around issues like everyday costs associated with being disabled, the lack of suitable transport provision, access to the right equipment, and the lack of suitable care and support to fulfil their everyday lives in a positive and meaningful way.

Sports like boccia can play an important role in improving the lives of disabled people whereby many of our members tell us that boccia has a positive impact on their lives helping them to be active, as well as contributing to their social and mental well-being.

We hope that the Government will continue to work widely with disabled people and their representative partners to ensure that the implementation of the Strategy makes a positive difference to their everyday lives.

Boccia England is keen to play a small part in ensuring that it can make a positive difference.