When we talk about equality in the sports sector, we are talking about treating people fairly and being accessible to everyone – regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion and belief (including lack of belief), sex and sexual orientation.
Clubs have a responsibility to be accessible and inclusive to all people, which essentially means considering the needs of all individuals in delivering their services. Everyone should be given the opportunity to play, compete, officiate, or be involved with the structures of a sports club. To do that, you might need to do some things differently for certain people in order for that to happen.
4 ways to improve your approach to equality
Moving to Inclusion Framework
The new Moving to Inclusion Framework is owned by the 5 sports councils across the UK and is led by the Sports Council Equality Group (SCEG). The new Moving to Inclusion Framework is an evolution of the original Equality Standard for Sport, first launched in 2004. In 2021, a comprehensive sector-wide evaluation of the Equality Standard was completed, leading to the development of this new Framework, operating model, and accompanying support package. The new Framework aims to support organisations to drive and maintain momentum for delivering change through a continuous improvement cycle of reflection, planning, implementation, review, and learning.
Champion Equality
The biggest benefit of championing equality is of course that you are offering sporting opportunities to suit everybody, which should mean an increase in the number of members. Ensuring that your sports club is diverse, inclusive, and actively communicating those factors will bring with it a host of benefits. Not only will your members feel supported and valued, on top of that you will also attract new participants and stakeholder interest, build a positive reputation, decrease risk by improving your governance and risk management, increase sponsorship opportunities, help break down barriers in sport and increase participation opportunities to name but a few!
Diverse Boards and Leadership
A diverse membership should mean a diverse mix of decision makers on your committee too. This will help your club to shape its services to meet the needs of its members and to broaden the reach to new members. Plus, championing equality is good practice and is viewed positively by funders. You can read more about Board Diversity here
Inclusive Communications
Activity Alliance have developed a downloadable Inclusive Communications Guide to help sport providers like yourselves to reach a wider audience using different communication tools, methods and even tone of voice. Activity Alliance have a lot of great resources on their website that clubs can access and may find helpful in their quest to becoming more inclusive and accessible.