Blog: 'I am particularly proud of our Inclusive Fitness Initiative'
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.
September's theme is Inclusive Fitness. This week, EFDS Director of Development, Chris Ratcliffe, discusses the challenges involved in assisting disabled people to be more active.
Chris’ blog:
Changing inactive disabled people into activity enthusiasts is not a quick task.
Working at the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) and being an active disabled person, I know that inactive disabled people have individual reasons why their experiences have meant they have stopped doing, do not want to, or feel they cannot access sport or physical activity.
We know that for many disabled people, most of the barriers relate to their own confidence or the way others act towards them. They’re personal, so can’t be solved in one quick swoop. However, there is still a lot more we can do to remove these barriers to being active.
Research shows that most disabled people are not as active as they would like to be. According to Sport England’s Active People Survey, four out of five disabled people take little or no exercise.
But that is not because disabled people do not want to be active. In the EFDS Lifestyle Report, released in 2013, we found that seven in 10 disabled people want to increase their physical activity.
In order to work towards a world where those barriers no longer exist, EFDS focuses a lot of our time on Inclusive Fitness – indeed, there is a whole section of our website devoted to this very theme.
I am particularly proud of our Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI), and the related IFI Mark leisure centre accreditation scheme.
IFI, which has been established for over a decade, leads the way in providing accessible physical activity and in increasing participation among disabled people within local leisure venues.
We now have a national coverage of 400 IFI Mark accredited gym facilities.
Inclusive Fitness addresses inclusion to encourage a cultural change within facilities in terms of fitness equipment, staff training, marketing and engagement, sports development and accessible facilities.
If you are a disabled person looking for an inclusive gym nearby, you can use our facility search tool on our website.
I just want to focus on one aspect from that previous list, which is staff training.
The value of staff training and workforce development in becoming an inclusive facility should never be underestimated. If staff attitude and organisational culture is not inclusive then this will prevent many people from using, or getting much further than the front door of a facility.
An unwelcoming environment can affect most people’s impression of a business, facility or club. More than eight in 10 disabled customers have taken their business elsewhere after experiencing poor customer care.
As a result, many organisations are missing out on the numerous benefits that disabled customers can offer as a large proportion of our population.
EFDS offers an online course – Delivering an Excellent Service for Disabled Customers – which covers inclusive customer service, perceptions of disability, effective communication, legislation and creating a welcoming and accessible environment.
There are also courses in Exercise and Disability designed specifically for health and fitness professionals, while marketing and communications professionals can benefit from EFDS’s Inclusive Communications guide.
Resources like this will no doubt support individuals to make positive lifestyle choices. The real impact comes when we open up conversations with more disabled people and their influencers.
EFDS is looking forward to building on the connections, engagement and networks that ensure active lives are possible.
For more information or to access the IFI courses visit click here or contact the IFI Team on email ifi@efds.co.uk or phone 01509 227750.
