The Urdd have made consistent progress with the insport 3rd Sector Programme, and have been successful in their journey from ribbon through to Gold in only 5 years. This is a fantastic achievement and incredibly significant within the Urdd’s Centenary year.
Tom Rogers (Governance & Partnership Manager, Disability Sport Wales)
“Since joining the insport 3rd Sector programme in 2017, and achieving the Ribbon standard in 2018, the Urdd have continually grown and developed their inclusive offer for disabled people.
Having worked alongside them in a supportive role over this period, I’ve been able to witness the passion and commitment to the continued development of inclusive and disability specific provision across the organisation. There is a consistent embedded approach to ensure inclusion is at the heart of their delivery with a number of successes across the growing competition portfolio particularly.
Achievement of the Gold standard means that an inclusive approach to communities of disabled people is embedded within the organisation’s strategies and programme delivery, with an understanding, a desire, and a clear commitment to continued growth. In successfully achieving the insport 3rd Sector Gold award, the Urdd as the first 3rd Sector organisation to achieve the standard, have led the way in raising the expectation for disabled people to expect to be included within sport and activity provision across Wales. Working across a number of sports and a number of sectors the range of inclusive provision now available through the organisation and their partners adds real value to the wider sport sector in Wales.
I’m looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with the Urdd as they continue to develop their provision in this area, with inclusion a vital part of their strategy moving forward and a clear aim to provide an Urdd offer for everyone.”
Sian Lewis, Chief Executive of the Urdd
"On behalf of the Urdd, I would like to thank Disability Sport Wales for this honour. It is a privilege to receive the insport gold award, and at the end of the Movement's centenary year it is an additional honour to be able to say that the Urdd is the first third sector organisation in Wales to receive this important recognition.
"Receiving the gold award is the result of a four-year journey, and I would like to thank all the staff and volunteers for their hard work, dedication and determination that has ensured we reach this important goal.
"The Urdd's ambition is to offer an equal service and opportunity in Welsh to all children and young people in Wales. I would like to thank Disability Sport Wales for helping the Movement by educating and sharing information so that we can adapt our activities to provide special opportunities for all.
"Although we have reached the gold award, the conversation and learning still continues, and we look forward to further developing our activities while working together with this special organisation over the coming years."
Fiona Reid (Chief Executive Officer, Disability Sport wales)
"Throughout the Urdd’s insport 3rd Sector journey they have demonstrated a willingness and enthusiasm to embedded the inclusion of disabled people within their thinking, planning and delivery.
"They have ensured that they got the foundations right, and from that point onwards everything became an opportunity for them to genuinely widen their offer so that it was even stronger for disabled young people.
"Their approach has been a real example of how insport 3rd Sector was intended to be used, as a support, guide and opportunity to engage more inclusively with the community.
"Their achievement of Gold is a great reflection of their willingness to ‘listen’, their proactive approach and a genuine commitment to including through the medium of Welsh. Llongyfarchiadau i bawb yn Yr Urdd Gobaith Cymru!"
Disability Sport Wales’ insport programmes
One of Disability Sport Wales’s top strategic priorities is to establish effective partnership for an inclusive sector culture. In order to achieve this, DSW recognise that a partner-led approach is essential to succeed in Wales becoming an active nation where everyone can have a lifelong enjoyment of sport.
Disability Sport Wales cannot achieve significant change alone and they need to bring existing, as well as new partners on the journey with them. They challenge their partners and the wider sporting landscape to accept and embrace inclusion, and in so doing, provide even greater levels of activity for disabled people.
The insport project provides support to clubs, national governing bodies, local authorities and other third sector organisations.
insport is a Disability Sport Wales project delivered with the support of Sport Wales, which aims to support the physical activity, sport, and leisure sectors delivering inclusively of disabled people. The insport NGB programme is part of the broader insport project, which aims to support the physical activity, sport, and leisure sectors delivering inclusively of disabled people.
insport is a toolkit, developed and delivered by Disability Sport Wales, to support the development of inclusive thinking, planning, development and delivery by everyone within the partner organisation so that ultimately they will deliver across the spectrum to disabled and non-disabled people, at whatever level they wish to participate or compete.
The intention is to initiate and then support cultural change with regards to the approaches the sectors have towards disabled people, and to support the identification of an understanding of what inclusion means to them as a collection of organisations. The result will be that opportunity is widened, participation increases, disabled people become more active and engaged (either as players, or officials, coaches, or volunteers), and we collectively achieve the sector vision for a nation who is hooked on sport for life, and one which consists of many champions.
The programme consists of 4 incremental Standards (Ribbon, Bronze, Silver and Gold), against which a series of aims have been identified.
Disability Sport Wales support through an assigned case officer to support each partner, including a range of disability inclusion training courses, guidance, and resources which can help staff, coaches and volunteers create a more inclusive environment for disabled people within sport.
The insport project was initially launched in 2012 to support partners in developing their provision so that it includes disabled people.
Over the past 10 years the project has continued to develop to work with a broader range of partners including 27 Welsh National Governing Bodies of sport, all 22 local authorities, 8 3rd Sector organisations including the Urdd, and over 500 community clubs.
A number of clubs have successfully achieved an insport standard, in all corners of Wales and across a wide range of sports including gymnastics, rugby, football and wheelchair sports.
These club opportunities can be found through our club finder: https://www.disabilitysportwales.com/en-gb/join-in/clubs
Learn more about the insport programmes and how they can support your organisation: https://www.disabilitysportwales.com/en-gb/programmes/insport
