Fund to enhance involvement of disabled people in swimming is launched

A new small grants fund which aims to enhance the involvement of disabled people in swimming activities has been launched.

The National Coordinating Committee – Swimming for Disabled People (NCC-SDP) is offering grants of up to £500 to innovative projects which will provide impact, insight and learning that can be applied across the aquatics sector.

This means that a project or club providing life-changing support to a few individuals is more likely to be successful than an organisation offering one-off participation to hundreds. 

The NCC-SDP consists of several organisations and aims to increase access to water for disabled people, ranging from hydrotherapy through to volunteering and competition within para-swimming.

The committee focuses on those with profound or multiple impairments and, therefore, support others to ensure that their provision meets the needs of those who stand to benefit the most from access to swimming.

Fantastic work

Mike Hawkes, Swim England’s head of diversity and inclusion, and chair of the NCC-SDP, said: “As a committee, we’re really happy to be launching the small grants fund during National Inclusion Week.

“We recognise that there is fantastic work being delivered across the sector and want to ensure that cost needn’t be a barrier for smaller projects to grow their impact.

“From a Swim England perspective, I would encourage clubs and projects alike to apply and the application process is intended to be very simple to reduce the administrative burden.

“I’d recommend applicants think about the concept of ‘impact’ and how your work can make the biggest difference.”

Grants will predominantly be up to £500 but applications exceeding this that are exceptionally innovative will still be considered.

To find out more about the NCC-SDP and the small grants fund, including how to make an application, please click here.