PEOPLE with complex disabilities in Trowbridge will be able to participate in more sport and physical activity as new funding is granted.

A total sum of £1,338,449 has been granted to national disability charity, Sense by Sport England to tackle the issue of inactivity amongst people with complex disabilities.

The funding was given to cover the South West, with a proportion being spent in Trowbridge on accessible sport sessions.

According to research carried out by Sport England, inactivity which is considered less than thirty minutes exercise a week, is more common for disabled people than non-disabled people.

It also increases sharply as the number of impairments an individual has increases.

Sense national sports manager, Alissa Ayling, said: “Over half of all people with complex disabilities miss out on participating in sport and physical exercise, which is vital for keeping healthy, learning new skills and making new friends.

“This funding will enable us to create lifelong opportunities for people with complex disabilities to be active by establishing meaningful, engaging, and local opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity.

"Part of the project is connecting with local fitness providers and disability organisations to organised those sessions and make decisions on what the sessions should look like – it’s very user led."

Sport England Strategic lead disability, Adam Blaze, said: “We are delighted to announce the investment into Sense, continuing their excellent work supporting people with complex disabilities to enjoy the benefits that increased physical activity brings, such as improvements to mental wellbeing and social connectedness.

“We know from research that inactivity levels are unacceptably high for people with multiple impairments. This investment, in addition to creating opportunities through direct delivery with the expansion of Sense’s existing programme of delivery, will upskill the workforce and influence the sports and physical activity sector to be more inclusive for people with multiple and complex disabilities.”

Discussions will now take place to schedule the sports sessions.

In addition to new regional sport sessions, Sense will aim to influence and equip the sports, health and social care sectors so that mainstream settings and sessions become more accessible for disabled people.

To find out more about Sense, and its programme to increase the range of sport and physical activities available to people with complex disabilities, visit: www.sense.org.uk/sport