ACCE SSIBILI T Y
LET’S GET ACCESSIBLE In the final part of a series on accessible sport and activity, we take a look at operators doing an exceptional job of supporting people with impairments and long-term health conditions
T
he Activity Alliance has been supporting sport and leisure facilities to be more welcoming and accessible to people with disabilities for more than 10 years through its Inclusive Fitness Initiative ‘IFI Mark’ Accreditation. One of the IFI Mark facilities
– [EN]GAGE at the Edinburgh Napier University –
I just never understood why any form of disability should be a barrier to exercise – Kevin Wright, [EN]GAGE
undertook the accreditation last year. As part of Sport England’s quality assurance and continuing development programme, Quest, [EN]GAGE achieved ‘Excellent’ in the
This has been made possible by ukactive’s Health
Engaging with Disabled People and People with Long
Commitment Statement, which enables operators to be
Term Health Conditions module.
more inclusive by allowing users to opt into exercise, rather
[EN]GAGE has a membership of 1,000, made up
than ticking boxes to highlight conditions that would see
mostly of students, but is also open to staff and the
them sent back to their doctor for ‘permission’ to exercise.
local community. Manager Kevin Wright has no idea
“Both my parents have long term conditions and I’ve
what percentage of those members have a disability.
watched them deal with day-to-day access issues and
“When people join a club they are immediately
trying to stay fit,” he tells. “Over the past 20 years I’ve also
given a form that allows them to point out their
worked with a range of people with additional support
differences, but a key thing for me is not highlighting
needs, such as vision and hearing impairments, and I just
conditions or disabilities,” he says.
never understood why this should be a barrier to exercise.
SportsAble runs a school outreach programme, which offers 9 to 13 year olds with impairments the chance to play adaptive sport
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ISSUE 4 2018
sportsmanagement.co.uk