DisSPA events

LJMU DisSPA Seminar Series - Barriers to Physical Activity for Children with Cerebral Palsy and the Role of Living-Labs

Recorded on Wednesday 18 February 2026 (Online)

This session is the second event in the 2025–26 Liverpool John Moores University Disability Sport and Physical Activity (DisSPA) Seminar Series, a programme bringing together researchers, practitioners and community members to share insights into disability sport and physical activity.

The seminar features William Pattison, who presents their latest research exploring the barriers and facilitators to physical activity for children living with cerebral palsy, incorporating both child and parent perspectives.

As part of the discussion, Will introduces the Living-Lab approach. This approach has not previously been applied to enhancing physical activity for children living with cerebral palsy. The seminar highlights its potential to create meaningful and sustainable impact in this area.

LJMU DisSPA Seminar Series – In partnership with the LJMU PESSPA Network

Exploring Inclusivity in Physical Education

Recorded on Wednesday 12 November 2025 (Online)

This session opens the 2025–26 LJMU Disability Sport and Physical Activity (DisSPA) Seminar Series - a new programme bringing together researchers, practitioners, and community members to share insights into disability sport and physical activity.

For the launch event, the DisSPA Network partnered with the LJMU Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity (PESSPA) Network to focus on what inclusive Physical Education can and should look like.

Featuring Dr. Alexandra Consterdine, presenting her latest research on parents’, carers’ and support workers’ perspectives of inclusivity for pupils with learning disabilities in PE.

The session explores key themes such as teacher approaches, peer attitudes, curriculum design, professional training, and practical recommendations for schools and governing bodies.

Movement Matters Festival

World-leading researchers at LJMU are undertaking a project with children across Merseyside to ensure that youngsters with learning disabilities have improved access to physical activity and sport.

Sport science experts from LJMU’s Physical Activity Exchange have funding for two years from the Baily Thomas Charitable Fund to work with SEN schools across the Liverpool City Region to find ways to ensure better inclusivity in exercise activities.

The project is called ‘Movement Matters’ and is targeted at an initial group of 8 to 10-year-olds.

As part of the research to date, 41 children were recently invited to the state-of-the-art LJMU Sport building to take part in a range of activities aimed at improving their motor skill performance. The event also helped to connect the children with organisations that deliver these activities out in their own communities.

Read more about how research aims to better connect disabled children with local sport.

Celebrating Disability Sport and Physical Activity Conference

LJMU’s School of Sport and Exercise Science and the ParaCoach Project, hosted a 2-day conference to celebrate disability sport and physical activity, as well as launch the new Disability Sport and Physical Activity (DisSPA) Network.

Across the two days, keynote sessions, interactive workshops and panel sessions were held with a wide range of speakers from academics to coaches, performance directors to Paralympic athletes. The conference provided the opportunity to connect academia with practice experience. The conference was also an opportunity to introduce delegates to two of the outputs from the ParaCoach Project: the Coaching Framework and the eLearning course.

In addition to these sessions a marketplace across the two days featured a number of great organisations : Goalball UK, British Blind Sport, Dwarf Sport Association UK, Greenbank Sports Academy, Paralympic Heritage Trust, England Athletics, Liverpool FC Foundation, Accessercise and CP Sport. This provided delegates with the opportunity to engage with local and national organisations whose work is vital to providing and supporting disabled people with sporting opportunities.

What our attendees thought of the event:

“The conference was a great opportunity to collaborate and network with a number of organisations and athletes who are passionate about developing sport and physical activity opportunities for people with disabilities, alongside considering grassroots opportunities across local clubs and educational institutions. The marketplace allowed BBS to share useful resources and information to grow opportunities specific to blind and partially sighted people” – Alex Pitts, British Blind Sport

“I found the 2 days thought provoking and thoroughly enjoyable, with a programme filled with experiences and knowledge, as well as challenging us all to think about how we can improve what we do. It was also fabulous to be able to connect and network with others to start to ‘join up’ our thinking and what we do. Thank you to all who were involved” - Paul Moseley, England Athletics

“A really inspiring conference, great for thought around my work and great for networking. Thank you LMJU!” - Vicky Hope-Walker, National Paralympic Heritage Trust

ParaCoach Project Director, Dr Tabo Huntley, said: “The conference surpassed all expectations in terms of the diverse topics and experiences that were shared by our speakers. The authenticity and passion of our speakers offered delegates a window into the complexity of Paralympic and disability sport and physical activity. For me the connection made between academic and applied experiences was certainly a highlight alongside listening to the voices of athletes”.

Disability Sport and Physical Activity Network Launch (DisSPA)

LJMU were joined by Professor Greg Whyte and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE DL, to launch the LJMU’s new Disability Sport and Physical Activity Network (DisSPA Network).

The launch of the network, led by Dr Tabo Huntley and Milly Blundell, was part of the LJMU’s School of Sport & Exercise Sciences and ParaCoach Project’s two day conference ‘Celebrating Disability Sport and Physical Activity in Liverpool’, that took place in November last year.

The conference, welcomed over 100 national and international delegates to our brand-new Student Life Building at the Copperas Hill Campus.

As part of the DisSPA Network launch, Professor Greg Whyte led a Q and A session with Tanni Grey-Thompson and delegates, followed by them both signing the DisSPA Network pledge board. Attendees were also invited to sign the board, pledging their support to the network.

The network aims to provide a trans-disciplinary space to connect members and allies who advocate and collaborate to enhance the provision of more inclusive and empowering sport and physical activity opportunities for people with disability.

Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Phil Vickerman hopes that the network will: “Not only celebrate disability sport but empower students and staff”, whilst Tanni endorsed the importance of sport in driving change, stating: “Sport has the power to do so many things, but we have to be aware of the message.”

Reflecting on the launch and the conference, ParaCoach Project Director and DisSPA Network co-lead, Dr Tabo Huntley, said: “I realised the significance of what we had achieved, when Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said, ‘This is the most disabled people I’ve seen at a conference taking about disability’. We had created a space for the voice of disabled people to be listened to. The key now is to ensure that this momentum is maintained through greater collaboration between academia and the applied sporting world.”