Sport England has launched a new assessment to replace the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) to help leisure operators provide more inclusive and accessible physical activity opportunities for people from different inequality groups.
The Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard can be undertaken stand alone or as part of Quest, Sport England’s continuous improvement tool for leisure, which measures how well a facility is operating and how effective organisations are across a range of different areas.
Co-written with Activity Alliance, Tackling Inequalities will help facilities assess how they plan, communicate and serve the local community to help them become more physically active. It focuses on five key inequality groups including people from lower socio-economic groups, people with long-term health conditions, culturally diverse communities, disabled people and socially excluded groups.
“IFI was focused on disability and long term health conditions, which are now integrated into all aspects of Quest. Through the Tackling Inequalities module we have widened the categories to include more of the local population - it’s more holistic and a lot more fit for purpose, assessing whether a facility is set up to serve a wide ranging and diverse community,” says Sarah Maxwell, head of external accreditations for Right Directions, which manages the scheme on behalf of Sport England as part of Moving Communities.
“Do you know the demographics of your area? Do you know the profile of your current customer base and staff members? Is there a synergy between your area and your users? And, if not, what can you do with your products, programmes, services, stakeholder engagement, staff training and communications to make them more inclusive to the community you are supposed to serve?”
The new Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard will complement the ongoing work of Activity Alliance in its aim to improve the way organisations think and act upon disabled people’s experiences, and to support facilities to include more disabled people in sport and activity.
Activity Alliance has created new factsheets providing guidance for operators as well as useful resources and tips on how the leisure workforce can embed better inclusive practices within facilities and programmes. This includes leisure centre and gym managers, facility management teams, marketing specialists and many others.
