International Day for Disabled People, a United Nations-led day of recognition, 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. 

One in five people in the UK are disabled and 81% of disabled adults 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.   

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.
 
Consider those who are learning to swim, practising functional fitness, easing the effects of an impairment, or using exercise as part of rehabilitation ­– physical activity is an indispensable part of their lives and wellbeing. 

Everyone Can – an agenda to improve the experience of disabled people 

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’s relationship with the disability sector.  

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 – 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.  

The data – experiences and expectations of disabled people 

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, titled ‘The Experiences and expectations of the 1 in 5, making physical activity accessible and welcoming for all’, explored themes of representation, perceptions, customer service, and accessibility. 

The polling identified several concerns and factors that disabled people have when using and accessing fitness and leisure facilities, including: 

• 35% feel too self-conscious to ask for extra information and support from gym, fitness and leisure centre staff.  


• 50% of gym users agreed ‘most centres provide a good range of equipment that I can use’, while only 28% of non-users agreed.  


• A fifth of survey respondents either feel worried they would be the only one with a disability or feel they did not see many other individuals with a disability in the facility.  

Since the publication of our research findings, we have used our our regional member network events and webinars to support our members to understand these themes and the action they can take. In some instances, we’ve also provided bespoke advice to operators. Another significant step is the addition of inclusion criteria as part of The Active Standard, which was launched in November and will help to further improve services across our operator membership.

We continue to work with our strategic partners across the physical activity and disability sectors as the agenda develops and evolves. 

An invitation – How you can act on this feedback and progress this agenda 

To ensure we’re continuously improving the way our sector addresses, welcomes and supports disabled users to keep active – and enjoy doing it – we want to convene the sector to make further progress. Our aim is to: 

• Ensure that our industry is supportive – being approachable and open for a discussion to improve the experience for disabled people. 


• Continue communicating that disabled people are welcome – fostering a sense of belonging, ensuring needs and expectations have been considered and that people ‘like themselves’ are represented. 


• Increasing inclusivity through the built environment and equipment – including advances in inclusive equipment, adaptations to activities and the support for all to be active. 

Leadership – ukactive members and partners making a commitment 

Ahead of our next discussions, and looking forward to the new year, we asked a selection of representatives from ukactive’s membership to share their ambitions and plans for 2025. 

Keira Roche, Chief Executive, Limbpower: “LimbPower is dedicated to promoting exercise and fitness as essential pathways for amputees and individuals with limb differences to engage in physical activity. Our comprehensive programmes have successfully supported hundreds of participants in improving their physical health, mental wellbeing, and overall quality of life. We want to continue to support those with limb difference and also encourage activity providers and facilities to promote inclusive opportunities for our members to enjoy the benefits of physical activity.” 

Adam Blaze, Chief Executive, Activity Alliance: “Meaningful inclusion for disabled people must be genuine and continuous. We must be responsive to the society we live and work in and adapt our solutions to what disabled people need. Our new strategy addresses the major barriers that disabled children and adults face when trying to be active or work in sports and activities. To truly shape a better society for disabled people to enjoy the benefits of being active, it will take collaboration, investment, and determination.” 

Dave Candler, CEO, Swimming Teachers Association:  “Following on from the success of our award-winning STArLIGHT charity campaign, we are committed to further enhancing the skills of our members by qualifying them to become specialist disability swimming teachers. With our proven track record and passion for this agenda and the results we have seen through STArLIGHT, we look forward to sharing our expertise and insights. By collaborating, I’m confident that we can accomplish even more to ensure swimming and all forms of physical activity are inclusive for everyone.” 

Jules Twells, National Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager, Everyone Active: “We have recently refreshed our Everyone Active values, aligning with our commitment to support everyone with access to being physically active. As a leading leisure operator, this ranges from our marketing – ensuring that our website and communication platforms are fully accessible – through to our in-centre operations, ensuring our sites are fully accessible and that our programmes are inclusive. Our aim is to provide everyone within the local communities a centre where they feel welcome.” 

Tom Godwin, Group Operations Director, Future Fit:  “We were recently awarded Disability Confident status, and as the industry’s leading training provider we will continue to commit to courses that support inclusive delivery and participation. We want to assist all groups in their fitness and health journey by empowering our teams and customers to identify any situations where they feel we could do better as a sector to support disabled people.” 

Do you have you any awareness, experience, a product or solution to contribute to discussions on this agenda? If so, we would like to hear from you. To express your in interest in the Everyone Can agenda in 2025 please email: [email protected] 

By Timothy Mathias, Strategic Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at ukactive