All facilities providing services to the public need
to be accessible to people with a wide range of
disabilities. Information on aspects of disabled
usage is contained within sections of this
document and readers should also refer to Sport
England’s design guide ‘Access for Disabled
People’. Reference should also be made to all
existing legislation and standards2.
The ‘Inclusive Fitness Initiative’3 (IFI) is a
valuable resource for information on
accessibility, inclusive equipment (that can be
used by both disabled and non-disabled people
alike), staff training and inclusive marketing
strategies.
The initiative can award the ‘Inclusive Fitness
Mark’, which is a quality mark accreditation
scheme based on the following;
• Facility Accessibility
• Fitness Equipment Specification
2 BS8300:2001 Design of buildings and their approaches
to meet the needs of disabled people
Building Regulations - Approved Document Part M: 2004
and the Sport England guidance note
‘Access for Disabled People’
http://www.sportengland.org/disabled.pdf
3 See http://www.inclusivefitness.org
• Staff Training
• Marketing
• Policies and Procedures
Sport England and the IFI has been working in
partnership with a number of fitness equipment
manufacturers for more than five years to ensure
that the equipment available on the market is as
inclusive as current technology and development
will permit.
The lack of availability of accessible fitness
equipment can no longer be used as an excuse
for ‘exclusive’ fitness facilities. Furthermore it
has been shown that if planned properly, the
provision of inclusive fitness equipment does not
lead to the need for additional investment or
additional space. It simply ensures that your
fitness gym is functional for more users than
ever before.
The IFI has worked alongside the industry to
create an accredited list of fitness equipment,
the only list of its kind anywhere in the world. In
the UK this accredited equipment list is the
definitive guide to the most inclusive fitness
equipment available on the market.
Accessible exercise equipment meeting the IFI mark.
A standard paragraph for use in tender
documentation is available from the IFI.
All fitness facilities in England should aim for
full accessibility. IFI Mark accreditation should
be the goal for all new and refurbished
centres. The Mark is applicable to all fitness
facilities regardless of sector and greatly
increases the size of the market able to be
targeted by a fitness suite.