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Active Summer Fun: 'Walking proves as good for my mind as for my body'

A new participation campaign created by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) and National Disability Sport Organisations (NDSOs) is encouraging more disabled people to find out and play out over summer. Active Summer Fun -#ActiveSummerFun on social media - is an exciting new campaign that aims to support more disabled people to find ways to be active during the warmer months.

This summer we will be talking to various disabled people or those who deliver activities that include disabled people. We hear how they are expecting the next few months to be very busy!

Today, David Padgen, Disability Sport Officer for British Universities and Colleges Sport, talks to us. He tells us about tackling the Cumbrian mountains, enjoying solitude in the great outdoors and sustaining injury in the pursuit of happiness.

CP Sport Active Summer Fun

David’s Active Summer Fun:

I became interested in 'the great outdoors' and adventurous activity through the Scout movement. I took up other sports including athletics, cycling and football for a while. But I got back into hiking through the Outward Bound Trust, and have been taking it seriously and walking regularly for 20 years.

I manage around 15 hours per week, and the most enjoyable aspect is the peace and quiet, the solitude and challenge. Walking proves as good for my mind as for my body.

I live in Derbyshire, and I am 42. I was the first European with Cerebral Palsy to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro and the first disabled person ever to do so by the route we chose. I also became the first disabled person to complete a North to South traverse of Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe.

David Padgen talking about climbing

I have a longstanding relationship with a couple of Mountain Rescue teams, Wasdale in the Lake District, and Kinder in Derbyshire. These people are volunteers who give up their spare time to do an amazing job keeping us safe in the mountains 24/7. 

In my work life I am the national Disability Sport Officer for British Universities and Colleges Sport. I have a dog who I walk twice a day, and then try to do a longer walk most weekends – it’s a fun twist on my other regular walking.

I have been walking and climbing in the mountains for a long time now. I like to think that the experience and skills I have, and the aging clothing and equipment I use, give an air of more than just competence. 

As a disabled person, I get a completely different reaction from other people in the mountains to that from people in the towns and cities. There, many people either ignore me or avoid me, but in the mountains rarely a day goes by without someone asking me for help or advice.

Scafell Pike in Cumbria is a regular favourite of mine and I try to climb it a couple of times a year.  It's not without its risks though - I have broken both my thumbs and a little finger on different days on the mountain. 

I am quite well known in the pub at the foot of the mountain, once owned by my friend Howard. I remember walking into the bar at the end of an epic day out, with my hands and arms bloodied and bleeding. Serving behind the bar was my good friend Mike. I ordered a beer, and as Mike took my money he saw the state of my hands and just said, "I'll get Howard." 

Find out more about Active Summer Fun. Find out and play out this summer. Find out more about climbing on the British Mountaineering Council website here. Cerebral Palsy Sport is the country's leading sports organisation supporting people who have cerebral palsy to reach their potential.