West Midlands Combined Authority has issued a call for evidence about disability and sport – in a bid to get people moving more on a daily basis.

The call - under the banner of the ‘West Midlands on the Move’ physical activity strategy – aims to ignite a social movement across the region with the long-term aim of making physical activity the norm.

It demonstrates the combined authority’s commitment to reducing the region’s current levels of physical inactivity and inequalities and harnessing the potential of physical activity to improve people’s quality of life.

The WMCA physical activity team is collaborating with disability and sport special interest organisations to understand what is needed to improve the life chances of disabled people in the West Midlands. Ultimately the aim is to become an exemplar region for numbers of physically active disabled people.

The WMCA Disability and Physical Activity working group aims to produce a report for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor by July 2018, setting out recommendations on what is needed to achieve this ambition. Physical activity strategic lead Simon Hall said:  

“We know there is lots of good and promising practice in the region, but 30% of adults in the West Midlands are still physically inactive along with 48.9% of disabled adults.

“As well as collating good practice and gaining invaluable insight from disabled people, we are launching a Disability and Physical Activity Call for Evidence to inform how we tackle this issue.”