11:00, 19 July 2021
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
We are undefeatable.
That’s the message of a new sports campaign, backed by Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, encouraging people living with long-term health conditions to remain active.
The campaign is led by a collaboration of 16 leading health charities, including British Heart Foundation, Mind, Age UK and Macmillan, along with National Lottery funding and expertise from Sport England. Its aim is to support and inspire the 43% of people in England who live with long-term health conditions. It follows research from Sport England that revealed more than half of people living with a health condition are worried about leaving the house to be active.
“I’ve always been very conscious of the importance of enabling everyone the opportunity to be active and the positive impact this has on health and wellbeing,” says Dame Sarah Storey, who was born without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb. “When the pandemic hit and lockdown began, it became even harder for those who had long-term health conditions and so finding ways to be active at home was an even bigger priority.”
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Dame Sarah Storey and Lauren Rowles MBE, along with the We Are Undefeatable campaign, launched the Home Games earlier this year: a virtual event and training schedule modelled on a decathlon with new fun and active games for people living with health conditions to take part in each week.
The athletes took their teams through 10 weeks of these virtual games, alongside their own training for Tokyo 2021. The team members - who are living with long-term conditions including cancer, dementia and asthma - took part in various activities that can be done safely at home, including Laundry Basketball, Watering Can Wander and Pillow Javelin.
“It was a humbling and inspiring experience,” says Sarah. “Seeing people work through their challenges and face new things with real grit and determination gave me so much more motivation for my own training. It was so fantastic to hear how much of an impact the training and event had on their day to day life too, from physical health improvements to participants feeling more confident after the 10 weeks of sessions."
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Sarah says an active lifestyle has always meant a lot to her. She’s never stopped moving, she says, and since having two children, that’s gone up another level. “During this campaign I met so many people who said their motivation was to be able to keep up with their children and whether you are a pro athlete like me, or navigating life with a health condition, I think this is one of the best motivations to have,” she adds.
The paralympian’s goal is for everyone to know that exercise doesn’t have to be complicated to make a difference to your activity levels. “Everyday items such as a tin of beans or a chair can replace expensive equipment,” she says.
“Everyone should have the opportunity to stay active but sadly for those with long standing health conditions, people try and speak on their behalf and make the assumption that because of their condition, they shouldn’t 'risk' being active,” says Sarah. “Anyone can find a level of activity that’s suitable for them and will make a difference to their physical health, confidence and mental wellbeing.
“It’s so important we allow people with long-standing health conditions to speak for themselves and find out what they want to do and enjoy carrying on with.”
Find out more about the We Are Undefeatable campaign here.
Image credit: Dana Gardner / Shutterstock
