London Youth Games Foundation launches 3 new multi-sport Adapted Inspire Festivals for disabled young people and their friends and families in a fully inclusive setting.

The first Adapted Inspire Festival will take place on Thursday 9^th November at Battersea Sports Centre, with further events scheduled in February 2024. The event is aimed at young people in Years 7-10 and school and educational groups are asked to bring a minimum of 50% of pupils with a disability.

We are committed to reaching those who face the greatest barriers to be active to inspire a life-long love for sport. According to the Sport England, Active Lives & Children Survey (2022), over half (50.9%) of disabled children and young people in London do less than an average of 60 minutes of activity per day. Therefore, there’s a significant need to help disabled young Londoners become and continue to be more active.

Thanks to the support of the GLA, groups will have the chance to try 4-5 different sports within 30-minute taster sessions.

Andy Dalby-Welsh, Chief Executive of London Youth Games, said: “Having experienced first-hand the life-changing opportunities sport can provide young disabled people, I am excited that we can launch these series of festivals to provide an opportunity to celebrate young disabled people, whilst providing a fun and inclusive opportunity for all young Londoners. We believe sport is a right for all, and we are committed to providing inclusive activities that can improve both the physical and mental health of all young Londoners.”

Young people will have the opportunity to try a range of sports, including at least one Paralympic sport. The sessions delivered by local clubs, will provide a platform for young people to discover new sports and increase community engagement and cohesion. Each sport provider will offer the young people an easy way to continue taking part in the sport(s) they most enjoy, by providing details and access to point to their local community club.

These festivals are an extension of the ‘LYG Inspire Festival’ series, which focuses on engaging young people most disengaged in sport and physical activity.

These festivals will help give young Londoners access to the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of sport, as well as enabling young people to develop positive relationships within their local communities.

We will work with partners, including Enable Leisure, Rambert, Surrey Cricket, Disability Sports Coach, Safe Haven Basketball and the Wayfarer Flyerz Hockey Club to deliver a morning of sport and activity for schools in London.

Schools can sign up to the free event here. The deadline for application forms is Friday 6^th October.

Schools will be awarded slots on a first come first served basis, with schools in the South region being given priority.

For any queries, please contact Emma Cranston: emma@londonyouthgames.org or 07794485195.