Twice as many Disabled People felt that coronavirus greatly reduced their ability to do sport or physical activity compared to non-disabled people, according to Activity Alliance’s annual Disability and Activity Survey.

The survey, released today, also reveals that respondents said the lack of activity has led to both their physical and mental health being harder to manage.

The Alliance, which exists to reduce the fairness gap between disabled and non-disabled people’s activity levels, has called on the sports industry to prioritise disabled people as they strive to recover from the pandemic.

Click here to read more about the survey on the Activity Alliance website.

Greg Yarnall, Head of Development and Volunteering at Table Tennis England, said breaking down barriers to help Disabled People engage in table tennis was a key strategy for the organisation.

He said: “To help improve access for Disabled People into table tennis we will be releasing our new online disability awareness training in the next week, aimed at coaches, club and league volunteers and anyone else involved in the delivery of table tennis in a club or community setting.

“Alongside this, a disability focus group will be meeting for the first time next Thursday evening, as part of the work to revise the sport’s Diversity Action Plan.

“The group will be discussing their own lived experiences playing, coaching or volunteering in table tennis and what we can do to improve the visibility and access to table tennis for Disabled People moving forwards.”

Anyone interested in contributing to these discussions, please email [email protected]