Learning disability, sport and legacy.

Abstract

This report examines the holding of the Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) National Summer Games – for people with learning disabilities – in Leicester in July 2009. For the first time, the views of the organisers, the athletes, their families and carers and the volunteer ‘army’ who assisted in staging the Games have been systematically collected and analysed.

02. In addition, three on-street surveys covering 919 members of the Leicester public were carried out at broadly six-monthly intervals before, during and after the 2009 Games. Each sample was balanced for age, gender and ethnicity in line with the city’s demographics. The aim here was to assess possible changes in public awareness of learning disability and the local impact of the Games.

03. Taken as a whole, this project offers new quantitative and qualitative data and insights into the role of Special Olympics (SO) in terms of: i. the value of sport for the learning disabled and their families and carers ii. the complex financial and organisational problems posed to host cities iii. public and media awareness of learning disability generated by the Games iv. the critical role of volunteers and the volunteer programme v. the very real challenges of sustaining a viable Games legacy