Disabled sport: a firm, lasting commitment

As a responsible company that believes in people, EDF endeavours to embody its founding values as a public service in all of its work. The Group works particularly hard to help disabled people play an active role in society, either through work or in sport – two highly effective tools at boosting integration. For more than 20 years, EDF has also been working alongside the Fédération Française Handisport to make sport for all a reality.

Promote participation in disabled sport in France

EDF has been working with the Fédération Française Handisport (FFH) since 1992 to further the development and media coverage of disabled sport in France, up to the highest level:

• Taking part in every sporting event held by the FFH, beginning with the French Championships
• Official partner of French disabled sports teams
• Supporting 7 disabled athletes through Team EDF
• Supporting sports events for young people such as the Jeux de l’Avenir and the Grand Prix National des Jeunes

EDF also supports international paralympic competitions:

• In 2013, a partnership with the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Athletics World Championships in Lyon
• In 2014, working with the FFH to organise the 3rd Paris Ile-de-France International Athletics Meet, involving Team EDF athletes and inviting young athletes from each French disabled sport

In November 2014, “Vivons le Handisport avec EDF (Experience Disabled Sport with EDF)” was set up in three French train stations (Nantes, Marseille, and Paris-Nord). The aim was to raise public awareness of disabled sport by inviting people to take part in a fun challenge: a simulated wheelchair race using equipment designed especially for the campaign.

Promoting the inclusion of disabled athletes at EDF

In 2013, as new, ever more ambitious disability agreements were signed, EDF renewed its partnership agreement with the Fédération Française Handisport (FFH), its longstanding partner. It was a strong signal of the Group’s comprehensive commitment to social inclusion for disabled people, within and outside the company.

Every day, EDF works to facilitate access to work for elite disabled athletes by opening the doors of the Group and helping them to best reconcile their sporting career and working life.

4 Team EDF disabled athletes are currently Group employees:

• Marie-Amélie Le Fur: Paralympic athletics champion
• Émeric Martin: Paralympic table tennis champion
• Cyril Moré: Disabled skiing world champion
• Damien Tokatlian: Paralympic runner-up in fencing

EDF’s expertise harnessed to design adapted equipment

EDF tasked its R&D team with helping to develop equipment for disabled athletes to use in competition and in training.

• The Handifix system, used during the last three Olympic Games, can, for example, enable fencers to attach their wheelchair to the competition surface, so that they can play their sport in perfect safety.
• The Orion system is designed for blind and visually impaired athletes: this patented aim-assistance tool transforms visual data (obtained using a camera) into audio information, heard through a headset.

Because sport is a powerful tool for inclusion, any idea is worth pursuing if it gets more people involved.