Mayor Andy Burnham backs inclusive leisure for disabled people

Last year, on International Day of Disabled People (3 December 2025), Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham endorsed a renewed commitment to inclusive leisure for disabled people reinforcing the region’s ambition to ensure disabled people are fully considered in policy, planning, and delivery across the region.

The endorsement follows an ask from the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel, part of the region’s wider equality network which works to embed lived experience and disabled people’s voices within Greater Manchester’s decision-making processes.

This commitment builds on the work of Greater Manchester Moving’s Commitment to Inclusive Leisure network, which brings together leisure providers, disabled people, and supporting organisations to share best practice and improve access to physical activity opportunities across the city-region.

As part of this approach, the network has endorsed Activity Alliance’s Leading Inclusion Practice Framework - an Activity Alliance led workshop that supports organisations reflect and review how they can strengthen how they engage disabled people by building confidence, skills, and an inclusive culture at every level.

Salford Community Leisure (SCL) were the first leisure provider in Greater Manchester to take part in the workshop. As part of this workshop, it was identified that sites and service audits did not account for disabled people’s experiences, and access had been consistently identified as a barrier across the city. Since then they have co-created a facility access audit with people with lived experience. The impact has been felt at both an operational and strategic level with SCL rolling it out across all of their leisure and community centres. After seeing the impact in Salford their libraries are now completing the audit and SCL are making this resource available for all across Greater Manchester.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:

“As someone who personally understands the benefits and importance of being active, opening up opportunities for all has to be a priority for us as a region. I welcome the ask from the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel and am pleased to support this work, alongside the key enablers of inclusive leisure through Greater Manchester Moving and Activity Alliance.”

Disabled people are significantly less likely to be physically active than non-disabled people, with barriers often embedded within systems, environments, and service design. Regional partners hope that mayoral endorsement of inclusive approaches and shared frameworks will encourage more leisure trusts and providers to take practical steps towards a more accessible and inclusive offer. 

Ben Andrews, Activity Alliance Ambassador and Co-Chair of the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel, said:

“Disabled people are twice as likely to be inactive as non-disabled people. While we already have examples of great inclusive leisure opportunities across Greater Manchester, building on this work will go a long way towards reducing this inequality.”

With backing from both the Mayor and the Disabled People’s Panel, the Commitment to Inclusive Leisure network aims to accelerate progress, share learning, and support leisure providers to embed inclusive practice as standard, ensuring disabled people across Greater Manchester have fair access to opportunities that support healthy, active lives.

You can read more about Salford’s journey on the GM Moving website.