Blog post
Campaign launched to encourage the blind community to get active
New research behind the campaign shows that the blind community is twice as likely to be completely inactive. It finds more than half of blind and partially sighted people doing less than 30 minutes of physical activity each week - falling short of the NHS recommended guidelines.
“Sport has played a massive part in my life, and I’m backing the See Sport Differently campaign to get more people with sight loss, whatever their age, into sport and finding places to engage in physical activity locally. Hopefully, the recent Paralympics has whetted the appetite of blind and partially sighted sports lovers, and we will see increased participation in the future.”
Paralympic sprinter Libby Clegg
Research has shown that although the blind community agree on the importance of regular physical activity, 48% feel that their visual impairments prevent them from being more active. A further 53% said they don’t have the opportunity to get involved in Sport.
The three-year campaign run by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in partnership with British Blind Sport, aims to tackle these issues by demonstrating to the blind community and the sports industry that sight loss doesn’t need to be a barrier to participation by creating and promoting local opportunities to get more active.
David Clarke, RNIB Director of Services and former Paralympics GB footballer, said: “I understand like most blind and partially sighted people how beneficial it is to stay fit and active, but for many of us, having sight loss makes it difficult to actually get involved in physical sport.
“It doesn’t have to be that way, and through the See Sport Differently campaign, we want to show people that there are local activities to get involved in, and we are also looking forward to working with the sports industry to help create more accessible and inclusive sporting opportunities.”
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