Uniting for inclusion on National Fitness Day
Today is National Fitness Day (Wednesday 22 September). The campaign aims to inspire the nation to be active and celebrate the positive effects it has on our health. That’s our physical and mental health and the benefits it has for our social inclusion too. As the leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity, we caught up with a few disabled people and asked them what fitness means to them.
This year’s theme is Fitness Unites Us - an important message now more than ever. We know existing inequalities for disabled people to be active have widened as a result of the pandemic. Just over 7 in 10 disabled people (72%) agree that the coronavirus pandemic has made sport and physical activity less fair for disabled people.
Our insight tells us that being active is much more than keeping fit for disabled people:
- For wheelchair tennis player, Abbie Breakwell, fitness helps her stay focussed and has also helped her grow her confidence.
- For Ben Clarke, Adapt to Perform founder, it means he can be more independent in his day-to-day life.
Hear more from disabled people on what fitness means to them on our YouTube playlist.
As we all strive to recover from the pandemic, finding a way to enjoy fitness in whatever way that suits, can really unite us all. But we need to ensure providers whether public or private make inclusion and accessibility a priority, so disabled people do not feel forgotten or left out. It is not only valuable in increasing membership and revenue, it makes business sense. It is the right thing to do if we are to achieve fairness for everyone in our community.
On National Fitness Day let’s unite for inclusion. We urge leaders across the leisure sector to listen to disabled people and be more welcoming than ever to disabled customers.
Our team is here to help in your goal to be a more inclusive organisation. We want providers to embrace the opportunities we are now faced with and for us all to be innovative and accessible.
How we can support you:
- Activity Alliance published Reopening Activity: An inclusive response, in consultation with partners across sport, leisure and disability equality. We worked with our members and partners to identify ways to make sure that disabled people can be included as activities and venues continue to reinvent and recover from the pandemic.
- Activity Alliance customer service online training - delivering an excellent service for disabled customers. A 60-90 minutes eLearning course that raises awareness and provides practical advice on providing excellent customer service for disabled customers at sport and leisure cent
