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Click here to return to newsletter articles.IFI Award Winners
Congratulations! At the recent IFI national conference the IFI recognised the hard work and success of five IFI sites. These sites are representatives of all of the IFI sites that have been accredited through the scheme, helping to make the IFI a worldwide example of best practice in Inclusive Fitness, and ultimately providing an inclusive service for disabled people. The IFI award categories and the winners were:
Innovation In Inclusive Marketing: West Craven Sports Centre, Lancashire
The way a facility markets its facility to potential users is crucial and often makes the difference to an IFI Site’s success. This award looked at those IFI Sites who showed a real understanding of what marketing their facilities to disabled people entails.
West Craven Sports Centre has strong links with Pendle Borough Council Disability Outreach Section, where the centre has utilised the council’s database of community organisations to market the facility. The centre has targeted disabled people in the following ways:
- Free taster session
- Guided tours of the facility
- Editorial in local press
- Talks to disabled organisations including church groups, hospitals, care centres, residential homes, and resource centres
- Using the IFI scheme to obtain further funding to form the Inclusive Club of Exercise for 10- 17 year olds.
- Offering meet and greet sessions on site, helping to build confidence and encourage independence around the leisure facilities
The biggest challenge that the centre found to marketing the fitness suite was raising the awareness of the IFI within the area; Inclusive fitness was largely unknown. The centre has overcome this through the work of the Inclusive Activator visiting groups and organisations within the community, working with centre staff to create an inclusive, welcoming environment and working with the marketing department to carry out some of the marketing techniques mentioned above. Also key to this was the strong commitment made by Pendle Leisure Trust’s executive management.
In the future West Craven will build on the links that it has already made, realising the importance of the Inclusive Activator, the centre has expanded the role to allow the post holder to work more in the community.
Community Impact: Mill Chase Leisure Centre
This award looked at how an IFI Site has engaged with their local community and what lasting mark they have made.
Mill Chase Leisure Centre has embarked on many activities and events over the last twelve months to engage the local community in its IFI work. The centre has organised accessible events including a Sport Relief Mile. This was a real community event attracting over 150 participants ranging from 2-85 years old, including both disabled and non-disabled people. The centre has also established the following:
- Set up and implemented a strategy for a variety of clinics at the local hospital.The clinics now hold their final sessions at the centre, where the Mill Chase staff run taster sessions giving users a chance to experience what is on offer. The Inclusive Activator also attends the clinics raising awareness of the centre.
- There is a large learning disability community within the area, which the centre has had a positive impact upon. The centre has challenged two of their users with learning disabilities to take part in the Great South Run.
In the future the centre plans to:
- create a database of all local groups, organisations, clubs, doctors, physiotherapists and disabilityassociations to establish a monthly or quarterly report/ newsletterdistribution.
- To continue to offer other inclusive activities at the centre including Boccia, curling, basketball, football and to set up a sports club.
- To continue to access further funding avenues through East Hants District Council.
Creating Partnerships: University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre
Creating partnerships is a crucial element of an IFI Site’s success and for the future sustainability of inclusive fitness. This award recognised those IFI Sites who have developed and maintained strong successful partnerships, which have had a big impact on physical activity levels of disabled people in their local community.
The University of Hull has developed many lasting partnerships with organisations in the area, these include:
- Local GP surgeries
- Hull and East Riding Primary Care Trust
- Hull Sports Development - Motiv 8
- East Riding County FA- Ability counts
- Beverley Westwood Hospital Occupational Therapy department
- Charitable organisations including HERIB, RNIB
- Local clubs including Hull Deaf centre FC
- Local schools including Frederick Holmes school
- University of Hull Disability (UoH), UoH Counselling and Hull University Union (HUU) Student counselling services respectively
The University of Hull has one of the most successful GP and Occupational Therapy referral schemes in Hull. Through working with GP surgeries and the local hospital to establish the schemes, they have become over subscribed and waiting lists now exist. Alongside the partnerships listed above the centre has worked with a number of groups including the RNIB blind cricket club and Hull Deaf Centre who playfootball at the University and who are also establishing a University Goalball club.
These partnerships have led to new initiatives such as a project working with people with anxiety and mental health issues. IFI initiatives have been linked to wider University developments such as the Football Foundation funded community football club and facility developments. This has served to maximise the benefits for the widest range of users.
The Sports and Fitness Centre’s partnership with the University Department of Sports Science has led to the introduction of a successful internal student work scheme. This has reduced demand on IFI qualified staff. It is planned that all on the scheme will become qualified IFI Instructors.
In the future the University plan to have:
- A management policy to support targeted promotion of the University facilities.
- The University are working to disprove the traditional misconception that Universities are for students only. They are sourcing additional funding to provide additional instructors and to expand the scheme and its benefits.
Creating Accessible Environments: Rushcliffe Arena
Creating an accessible environment is essential if disabled people are to be able to participate in physical activity in an IFI Site. This award therefore recognises those Sites that have gone above and beyond the requirements of the IFI access audit to make their service accessible.
Rushcliffe Arena has gone beyond the IFI access audit to create an accessible environment for their users. The centre has:
- Changed their meet and greet policies to one that is more user friendly helping to overcome barriers. Disabled people are met at reception and taken to the fitness suite.
- The centre has gone beyond the IFI minimum equipment package purchasing in total 18 IFI accredited pieces of equipment.
- The centre has established a motorised Exten fitness suite to complement the IFI fitness suite offering a friendly setting for people with joint complaints to work out in.
- The centre dedicates fitness instructors to booked group sessions within the fitness suite assisting users with their programmes. The instructors have built strong relationships with the users and frequently spend time talking to the users over drinks in the café after their workout.
- The centre has overcome an incline leading into their facility by meeting users in the car park to assist them up the slope.
- As a centre they have recognised the importance of making customers feel comfortable about their surroundings by changing their tour policy to include signage, accessible parking bays etc.
- The centre has recently improved the layout of their fitness suite to provide more space between pieces of equipment and upgraded the air conditioning units to provide a comfortable environment for customers.
In the future the centre will be working towards developing partnerships with the GB Wheelchair Rugby and also the GB Para Olympic Ice Hockey teams to act as role models for customers at the centre and promote the centre’s accessibility.
Engaging Volunteers: Reigate and Redhill YMCA
For many disabled people entering fitness suites for the first time is a daunting prospect. This award therefore recognises the value of volunteers in terms of the support that they can offer users in integrating into the fitness suite, building their psychological and social skills, supporting them along side the fitness instructors and the important contribution that they make to retaining users.
Reigate and Redhill YMCA have established a comprehensive volunteer programme called the Fitness Pioneers Project, which aims to recruit, train and support disabled people to become qualified sports leaders and/ or fitness instructors through working as volunteers.
The volunteers act as pioneers in the delivery of activity, but most importantly they inspire other disabled people to participate and benefit from physical activity. All volunteers on the programme are encouraged to act as mentors and role models to other disabled people, leading to a significant increase in exercise professionals and sports leaders.
The volunteers from the Fitness Pioneers programme are important to the centre offering vital support to other disabled clients. The volunteers help clients to build social and psychological skills and break down the barriers to participation, ensuring that all disabled users feel comfortable exercising within the centre.
The centre has worked closely with partner agencies including Mencap, the Active Surrey Sports Partnership, The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), MS Society and Dyscover.
Case Study: after attending a presentation at the YMCA, Rita became a user of the centre. This led her to volunteer for the Fitness Pioneers’ scheme. Rita asked for a class to be set up for people with MS and volunteered to assist with this, eventually qualifying as a Fitness Instructor herself.
