Activity Alliance celebrates one year of Inclusive Activity Programme

In June 2018, Activity Alliance was delighted to announce the launch of the brand new Inclusive Activity Programme. The announcement came during UK Coaching’s inaugural Coaching Week (2018), after a successful funding application to Sport England. Now, one year on, we look back at the programme’s success so far and how the specialist training supports individuals to engage disabled people more effectively in physical activity.

During its first year, the Inclusive Activity Programme has worked with a network of 35 registered partners across England, including 31 Active Partnership organisations. Thanks to these partnerships and a strong workforce of 25 experienced UK Coaching tutors, we have delivered 48 workshops to over 550 individuals.

University of Nottingham hosted the very first Inclusive Activity Programme workshop in October 2018. Disability Sport Officer, Hannah Webber, arranged the workshop to equip sports clubs’ members and volunteers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver more activities that are accessible to disabled students.

After the workshop, Hannah told Activity Alliance:

"The Inclusive Activity Programme is a great way of encouraging sports volunteers and coaches to think outside of the box. They can use their initiative when it comes to the delivery of sporting opportunities for disabled participants. I would certainly recommend this programme to other universities."

The Inclusive Activity Programme has engaged a wide range of individuals and organisations who provide opportunities for disabled people to be active for life. Many of these individuals have shared positive feedback about the workshop content and delivery.

Tina Hancock, Service Manager at Children and Young People’s Services said:

"I manage a team of 80 and have a diverse range of staff that I need to be able to provide fully inclusive team days. The Inclusive Activity Programme workshop has helped me to rethink how I plan and deliver activities and will use these new skills to provide more inclusivity to the team."

Laura Greeves, a PGCE student from Loughborough University said:

"I would recommend the Inclusive Activity Programme because it provides simple yet effective techniques and strategies on how to make sessions inclusive. It helped me to realise that separate sessions are not needed, just the adaptation of sessions to allow everyone to access it. The practical nature helped me to understand better and the course tutors were extremely knowledgeable and made me feel at ease to ask questions."

Charlotte Osborne, Training and Education Manager at British Dressage said:

"The Inclusive Activity Programme provided key messages for us to consider when trying to engage with more potential Para Dressage riders, in particular the 10 principles of inclusive communication. The session has challenged our thinking about the way we approach educating and developing our coaches and officials to provide them with the confidence and tools to deliver sessions and competition opportunities for more disabled people within our sport."

Activity Alliance is proud to deliver the Inclusive Activity Programme. We will continue to work with UK Coaching, Sport England and other national partners to empower individuals to deliver more inclusive and accessible activities. By 2021, the programme will deliver over 600 practical workshops and provide access to ongoing learning opportunities for 8,500 individuals.

Book an Inclusive Activity Programme workshop

Could your staff, coaches or volunteers benefit from an Inclusive Activity Programme workshop?

Contact Activity Alliance today and book your own bespoke workshop for up to 16 people. Workshops are available across England and cost no more than £20 per person.

For more information visit our Inclusive Activity Programme page, or contact the team, you can email our Programmes team or call 01509 227753.