Access Sport
Breaking Barriers - Supporting Disabled Teenage Girls to be Active

Access Sport

Information About Our Video Nomination

Our nominated video is part of the Breaking Barriers project, a groundbreaking initiative led by Access Sport in partnership with the Sweaty Betty Foundation, Women in Sport, and Nuffield Health. This project highlights the struggles faced by disabled teenage girls in accessing sport and exercise, aiming to foster inclusion and empowerment through actionable change.

The video, which premiered at the project’s launch event, features four disabled teenage girls sharing their personal insights on the challenges they face and their ideas for fostering disability inclusion in sports. Their voices reflect key findings from the Breaking Barriers report, which revealed that:

- Many disabled girls understand the benefits of sports and want more opportunities.

- They face unique barriers compared to their peers, often feeling excluded due to a lack of suitable programs and environments.

- Judgement-free, inclusive spaces—especially those designed for girls and led by well-trained coaches—can make a significant difference.

This initiative seeks not just to raise awareness but to inspire action from policymakers, educators, and sports providers, calling for better inclusive coaching, accessible programs, and an understanding of the diverse needs of disabled teenage girls.

By creating platforms like this video, we amplify the voices of those often unheard and reinforce a simple but powerful message: inclusion in sports isn’t just a right—it’s a necessity for building confidence, joy, and equality.

Who We Are

Access Sport is a national charity formed in 2004.

We believe that no one should be excluded from the transformational benefits of community sport. The benefits we focus on are:

Physical and mental health and well-being

Personal development (including life skills/ prospects)

Sense of belonging

Community engagement.

What We Do

We train, equip and support community sports clubs, organisations and volunteers to provide inclusive programmes, unleashing their potential to transform the lives of underserved young people in their local communities.

This work is either place based (Changing Places) or sport focussed (Changing Sports). All the clubs we support are invited to join our Inclusive Club Network.

We then use the expertise gained through this work to effect system wide change.

How We Do It

We make inclusion the norm by tackling the access barriers faced by disadvantaged and disabled young people, focussing on the causes of exclusion not just the symptoms.


What makes us different?

Targeted/ hyperlocal delivery: our work is tailored to the needs of each community

Deep expertise: we have know-how and expertise to tackle the causes of exclusion not just the symptoms. We specialise in social inclusion and disability inclusion

Total approach: we work top down and bottom up, utilising on-the-ground insights to effect policy and system change nationally

Network & influence: we are highly respected leaders in our field and closely connected to other national sporting organisations

Collaborators: we work closely with others to maximise change.

Sustainable, long term impact: we make real, lasting change happen.

Our Values

Our mission to transform lives through sport inspires and motivates our team. Our five core values define our way of working and are what make us distinctive:

Inclusive We believe that everyone should have equal opportunity to access the benefits of physical activity and sport in their local community

Passionate - We are passionate about transforming lives through sport and determined to have a lasting impact

Empowering - We empower communities and individuals from disadvantaged areas to provide transformational sporting and personal development opportunities

Innovative - We are ambitious, creative and forward-thinking, bringing new initiatives and ideas to the sector

Honest - We are open, transparent and trustworthy – always holding ourselves to the highest standard of integrity