Making sport accessible and fun for all

Today, Disability Sports Humber supports hundreds of people in continuing to participate in their favourite sport. We caught up with Daryl to find out more about the charity's incredible and far-reaching work.

Can you tell us a little more about Disability Sports Humber?

"We help a large number of disabled people to play sport every week. So often, we see how much sport changes people’s lives, from improving their mood, to giving carers some time to rest. We are based in Hull but work across the region, ensuring that no one has to give up their sport due to lack of funding.

Disability Sports Humber works in a different number of ways, including giving grants to disabled people so that they can continue to play sport, helping clubs to gather funding so that they can stay open, holding events to showcase what disability sports can do, and fundraising for individuals and groups.

With the average cost of chairs being over £3,000, so many people need our support in order to access sport. We have a funding gap of over £60,000 a year, which we try to bridge with the work we do. However, we need the public’s support to keep the large volume of disabled people playing the sports they love."

Why is your work important?

"Without us, so many people would be forced to give up their hobbies. Anyone can become disabled at any time and costs of keeping active can be well over £5,000 annually. It’s not just about keeping fit, but also improving mental health and wellbeing."

What are you currently working on?

"With so many disabled people in the area needing new equipment, we have numerous campaigns currently running.

We’re also hosting the Humber and Lincolnshire Disability Sports Awards, which is the largest of its kind in the UK, with over 500 attendees expected on Friday 1 June."

Get involved

You can help Disability Sports Humber by becoming a sponsor, organising a fundraising event or join them as a coach.

They are currently looking for people to run several races across the region, including the Hull 10K and Half Marathon on Sunday 10 June, Grimsby 10K on Sunday 22 July, and the Hull Marathon on 23 September.

Meanwhile, if you are disabled and would like to start a new sport, you can choose from a variety of exciting activities, such as wheelchair hockey, powerchair football, wheelchair basketball and sledge hockey.

To find out more, visit the Disability Sports Humber website.