Better accessibility for everyone: Facility Audit Training for Leisure Providers

On Thursday 4^th June, Ros Cramp of Herts Disability Sports Foundation (HDSF) was delighted to deliver a facility audit training workshop to 16 Everyone Active Staff representing 20 leisure centres, theatres and outdoor leisure facilities from across all 7 district areas the contract covers in Hertfordshire to practically look at the accessibility of their venues. This particular session was offered exclusively to staff of Everyone Active centres with a follow up session planned for Monday 7^th September which will be open to the staff of the other three major Hertfordshire leisure providers; Inspire All, Better: Greenwich Leisure Limited and Broxbourne Borough Council. This training forms the first part of a wider venue accessibility awareness project within our Facilities work strand of the No Limits 2026 campaign.

The session itself took place at Royston Leisure Centre and the staff in attendance were all of Operation Manager/Duty Manager level. A representative of North Herts District Council was also in attendance to support or advise on any features identified for improvement that sit outside of the control of the centre managers themselves and would need council funding/intervention.

During the afternoon staff conducted a walk-through facility audit of the entire Royston Leisure Centre working their way through the Swim England Environmental Assessment Tool document with a supplementary checklist for the additional dry-side facilities. They discussed what was observed - the good and bad and were asked to identify any small/quick changes that could make a big difference (typically only requiring under £50 and armed with a screwdriver) and any bigger changes that may require discussions with contract managers. The group was then split into two and repeated the process to practically experience what it is like being a customer of the centre as either a wheelchair user or an individual with a range of Visual impairments. Before going through the practicalities of listing the key features of their venues on accessibility platforms.

The overall aim of the afternoon was to get the staff to look at their centres from a different perspective, to see what’s good and what could be made even better. There was lots of thought-provoking discussion and awareness raising of the small and big differences our centres can make to be truly inclusive to all.

Centres have now been challenged to be proactive in advertising their centres to disabled people by uploading their venue listings onto Euan's Guide, an internet platform that allows sites to share their disabled access information.  It also allows individual users to review the sites, making it a really interactive and up to date space for accessible information. Over the coming weeks, once the listings are uploaded a selection of our No Limits 2026 Ambassadors will be deployed to visit the centres and provide user reviews to support the awareness of as many Herts Leisure Centres as possible opening opportunities for participation and memberships to more prospective disabled users.