Where and how are people being active? Dive into the Adult Active Lives Data

As part of Sport England’s Adult Active Lives data, HSP is able to identify where individuals spend their active minutes, noting that this varies depending on personal characteristics. The data also highlights the types of activities undertaken, ranging from active travel to sporting activities.

In England, disabled people prioritise walking (73%) and active travel (44%) whilst non-disabled people prioritise walking (90%) and sporting activities (64%). Participation in sporting activities remains 22% higher overall for non-disabled people's compared to disabled persons. So an aim of the No Limits 2026 campaign is to increase the amount of sporting provision available for disabled persons in Hertfordshire to help reduce this gap. HSP have explored this in more detail via the Physical Activity Story Map.

For disabled adults, the time spent completing activities outdoors was double the time spent indoors, highlighting a clear priority for outdoor activities. Within this category, "Local environment" has the largest proportion of participation minutes among outdoor actvity settings.

Interestingly there is only a 7% gap in activity between disabled and non-disabled activity in local environments which means places like gardens, parks and roads are much more equitable. However, access to green spaces is not equal across Hertforshire with half of the districts missing the target of 2.4 hectares of accessible green space per 1,000 people and 8% of Hertfordshire population not having access to green space with a ten minute walk.

So it must be a focus of our work to maximise the opportunities for disabled people in our public outdoor spaces.

As part of the No Limits 2026 campaign we are working closely with county wide offers such as Parkrun and Hertfordshire Healthwalks, who each have 35 events in various locations across the county to ensure their programmes are inclusive and accessible for those with disabilities.