Oaklands centre manager, Paul Bickle, gives a review of what it is like for facility managers to go through the IFI accreditation process. It demonstrates the commitment and investment that leisure facilities input to create inclusive facilities.
My inspiration came from attending the IFI National Conference in December 2006, which directed my work on making my facility inclusive and accessible for all customers. I set myself a target of achieving the Inclusive Fitness Mark.
The Oaklands facility was being refurbished with a £1.9m investment. This was to include a brand new fitness suite amongst other improvements. We launched our new centre in September 2006 with the fitness suite having the latest Pulse fitness machines which we selected due to the broad range of IFI stage 1 accredited pieces of equipment, knowing this would be key in delivering a quality accessible service.
After the gym was up and running, the Inclusive Fitness facility resource manual dropped on my desk, which was a good tool to work through to ensure the centre came up to standard. Our biggest challenge was two fold. Firstly, getting the staff trained and then making all the adaptations within the facility to meet the needs of the users. I was assisted by a local group of disabled children in York who gave up their time to audit all the swimming and leisure centres. The results from their audit was proof of the need to think about our customers requirements in a more broader aspect.
After four months of working through the tool kit, we contacted the IFI to request a formal IFI audit. In December 2006, the Inclusive Fitness Mark team ascended upon us and spent the whole day auditing the facility and speaking with staff from gym instructors to myself.
A comprehensive action plan was received from the IFI in January 2007 which gave us a clear vision of where we needed to be, to achieve the IFI mark. The action plan had over 60 tasks which ranged from re-marking our car park to training staff to level three standard. As the Sports Facility Manager, I held the pen and directed my team to work on the action plan.
The results of working towards the IFI mark has included:
· The setting up of the Oaklands Sports and Disability Social Club
· Inclusive fitness sessions in the gym
· A greater understanding by staff of what inclusive means and why it matters
· Increased activities and users, especially at off-peak times
· Teamwork including a sense of achievement
· Motivation with external award and recognition
· The Inclusive Fitness Mark recommendations becoming a standard form of working practice
Our next step is to maintain our Registered Level status and work towards Excellent Level which would bring the benefit of further training and the ability to become inclusive. In terms of our sports facilities, the aim will be to use the Inclusive Fitness Mark as a benchmark tool to develop further facilities at Oaklands. In summer 2009, the centre will benefit from over £5m of investment which will include a large extension to the current gym to over 100sq/m, a new 25m x 6 lane pool, learner pool, hydrotherapy pool and changing village.
Our philosophy will and must always remain that we are a community facility which is accessible to all.
