A lack of facilities for
disabled children in the area prompted Park Leisure
Centre to be more inclusive
SOMETHING FOR THE KIDS Park Leisure Centre, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
activity programmes for children with disabilities, including building a soft play and sensory zone. A focus group with parents had led to
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the realisation that there was a need for an improved service for children with disabilities in the area and within the club itself. “We thought we were doing our best,” says Ian Jones, health and fi tness development offi cer, “but it became obvious that more needed to be done. “For example, with the school holiday
timetable. We prepare the timetable six weeks in advance, but parents and carers of children with disabilities need much longer to arrange activities. In many cases, these activities need to be booked months in advance.” Following this realisation, the centre worked towards and achieved IFI
september 2011 © cybertrek 2011
ark Leisure Centre in Barrow responded to demand and created specific gym and
accreditation both in its adults’ gym and in its youth gym in March 2010. Most of the new IFI-accredited equipment has been supplied by Pulse Fitness, with whom the centre has been in a franchise agreement since May 1997. It also has Medimotion’s motor-driven bike, MOTOmed. The centre then started sessions in
its youth gym exclusively for children with disabilities, which it called MAX Inspiration. It was so successful that the programming was then expanded to MAX Cycling, MAX Canoeing, MAX Climbing, Multi MAX (multi- sports sessions) and Aqua MAX (pool activities). It also increased the amount and variety of holiday activities suitable for children with disabilities. In addition, the centre added an
inclusive strapline to all of its marketing materials: “Physical activity can be accomplished by anyone and should be enjoyed by all.” And it started to build
working relationships with groups and organisations in the local area who assist children and adults with disabilities. The centre’s most recent project,
completed in September last year, was Play MAX, a soft play area with sensory room for children with disabilities (also available for use by pre-school children), as this was fl agged up as something not available in the area; parents complained that, while soft play centres existed for pre-school children, older children with disabilities weren’t allowed to use it. To create the new facility, a
badminton court was converted by design company Rompa, in consultation with local groups, special needs schools, health professionals and individuals. The £51,000 project was funded by Barrow Borough Council, with £15,000 from Aiming High Funding and £6,500 from a local organisation called PACE (Parents and Carers of Children with Epilepsy).
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 49
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