{"id":20357,"date":"2024-12-03T11:14:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T11:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukactive.com\/news\/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities-improving-the-experience-of-disabled-people-using-our-nations-fitness-and-leisure-facilities\/"},"modified":"2024-12-03T11:14:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T11:14:42","slug":"international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities-improving-the-experience-of-disabled-people-using-our-nations-fitness-and-leisure-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukactive.com\/cy\/news\/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities-improving-the-experience-of-disabled-people-using-our-nations-fitness-and-leisure-facilities\/","title":{"rendered":"International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Improving the experience of disabled people using our nation\u2019s fitness and leisure facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Timothy Mathias, Strategic Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at ukactive <\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today is International Day for Disabled People, a United Nations-led day of recognition which takes place every year on 3 December. It promotes the rights of disabled people and aims to increase the awareness and wellbeing of disabled people in all aspects of their life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One in five people in the UK are disabled and 81% of disabled adults<\/a> have indicated that they want to do more physical activity, which shows just how important our sector is in providing opportunities that can help to improve millions of lives. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are those who simply enjoy their visits to leisure centres and gyms, but there are also those who rely on our essential services to learn crucial life skills, to socialise with those around them, to increase their connections with their community, and to improve their physical and mental health. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Consider those who are learning to swim, practising functional fitness, easing the effects of an impairment, or using exercise as part of rehabilitation \u00ad\u2013 physical activity is an indispensable part of their lives and wellbeing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Everyone Can \u2013 an agenda to improve the experience of disabled people<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n

ukactive has supported the physical activity sector on this agenda through a range of ongoing initiatives, programmes and workshops that are designed to grow the sector\u2019s relationship with the disability sector. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Everyone Can programme is just one example that aims to improve inclusivity and accessibility for disabled people by bringing the sector together to raise awareness, convene operators and suppliers to share learnings and evidence within this space. This is led by the Everyone Can Task Force \u2013 a group of leaders from across the sport and physical activity sector united in the desire to help realise the full potential of gyms, fitness and leisure facilities in supporting disabled people to be active. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The data \u2013 experiences and expectations of disabled people<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Everyone Can Task Force commissioned a consumer poll with Savanta which asked more than 1,500 disabled people about their experiences when using gyms, swimming pools, fitness facilities and leisure centres. The report<\/a>, titled \u2018The Experiences and expectations of the 1 in 5, making physical activity accessible and welcoming for all\u2019, explored themes of representation, perceptions, customer service, and accessibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The polling identified several concerns and factors that disabled people have when using and accessing fitness and leisure facilities, including:\u00a0<\/p>\n