Leisure sector support

Disabled people must be able to use leisure services and have a positive experience when they do. It’s not just about facilities – it’s also about the people who work in them. Research tells us that more than eight in ten disabled customers have taken their business elsewhere after experiencing poor customer care. That's why staff training and workforce development is also extremely valuable.

Below you will find some useful resources and links to organisations that can help people working in the leisure sector to create strong and inclusive offers.

Activity Alliance leisure factsheets

A series of 10 factsheets covering topics including creating inclusive strategies, workforce development and measuring impact. They provide clear and simple guidance and top tips on embedding better inclusive practices within facilities and programmes, and are designed specifically to support people working in the leisure industry. This includes leisure centre and gym managers, facility management teams, marketing specialists, and many others.

Activity Alliance Learning Hub

As a CIMSPA Education provider, our Learning Hub is the go-to place to develop your knowledge, create meaningful and lasting change and promote your commitment to inclusion. From CIMPSA accredited training to recorded webinars there are a range of opportunities on offer. Here you can also access one of our top training modules, delivering an excellent service for disabled customers eLearning. This course was written specifically for people working in the leisure sector, and those in a customer-facing role.

Inclusive communications

Effective marketing and communications is essential for all organisations. Inclusive and accessible planning and delivery of your communications can help everyone reach more people, including disabled people. We offer a variety of training and resources including factsheets, a webinar and expert in-person/online training for communications professionals to help your team make a difference through better communications.

Effective engagement factsheets

A series of engagement factsheets for sport and activity providers. From planning opportunities to measuring impact, these resources help organisations embed inclusive practice and engage more disabled people to be active.

Useful contacts

There is some great work already happening in the leisure sector, supported by Activity Alliance, to ensure facilities and services are welcoming and inclusive.

Community Leisure UK

A members’ association that specialises in charitable trusts delivering public leisure and culture services across the UK. Activity Alliance are supporting their equality and diversity work across the sector.

EmployAbility Leisure Guides

EmployAbility Leisure supports disabled people, training providers and employers to get more disabled people working in active leisure. The guides are based on research with disabled people and those involved in leisure sector training, recruitment, and employment. Activity Alliance chairs the EmployAbility Leisure project strategic partners group.

Quest Tackling Inequalities in Leisure standard

This is Sport England’s recommended Continuous Improvement Tool for leisure facilities. The standard has been co-written between Activity Alliance and Quest and aims to help leisure operators provide more inclusive and accessible physical activity opportunities.

Sport England Accessible and Inclusive Sports Facilities guidance

Guidance created specifically for planners, designers, building owners and operators to support the design and operation of safe, welcoming, accessible and inclusive sports and leisure facilities. Activity Alliance supported the consultation of disabled people during the design process – specifically regarding accessible and inclusive sports facilities.

Sport England Moving Communities

Activity Alliance are working with Moving Communities to improve disability data collection across the leisure sector to understand who is participating and its wider impact on local communities. A true picture of participation for disabled people will influence local and national decision-making.

Swim England Water Wellbeing Accreditation and Inclusion Hub

The Water Wellbeing Accreditation is a process for organisations to follow, showing high standards and quality of support both to health partners and members of the public. Our delivering an excellent service for disabled customers eLearning can be completed as part of gaining the accreditation. The Inclusion Hub is also a great place to find out more about the work Swim England are doing to ensure aquatic sports are open to everyone.

ukactive Everyone Can

The sector trade body with a vision to get more people, more active, more often. Everyone Can is ukactive’s agenda for inclusion and accessibility supported by Sport England. Activity Alliance support this work and also contributed to equality, diversity and inclusion criteria of ukactive’s Active Standard to ensure it supports operators with their inclusion and accessibility practices for disabled people. 

If you need any further information please email dawn@activityalliance.org.uk or phone 0808 175 6991.