Belgravia Foundation support YouMeUs online training platform

Access and Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do.  It’s our mission, and passion, and we strive toward ensuring no one misses out from the benefits achieveable through participation in local leisure centre facilities, programs, and services.

The Belgravia Foundation has set itself the challenge to transform the leisure and sport sector to improve accessibility and inclusion, and support those in need who have been marginalised from leisure, sport, and fitness to get involved. 

Compelling research evidence confirms that workplace personnel – whether paid or volunteer – is the main enabler, or barrier, to the inclusion of people with a disability in sport and recreation.  YouMeUs is an evidence-based online training program designed to improve the confidence and capability of leisure centre personnel to welcome, support and include people with a disability into leisure centre facilities, programs, and services.

The YouMeUs training initiative was led by a combination of Local Councils from the Southeat of Melbourne as part of their work in support of the Metro Access program supported then by the Victorian Government, as well as leisure, sport and disability sector representatives. Belgravia Foundation subsequently became involved with YouMeUs in 2016, providing improvements to content and evaluation approaches.  In light of the ongoing and extensive support Belgravia Foundation has provided, and the trust of the groups that initiated the program, it is privileged to now have assumed ongoing responsibility forYouMeUs, with the prospect of continuing the challenge to transform the leisure and sport sector to improve accessibility and inclusion.

Belgravia Leisure, the innovation partner of Belgravia Foundtaion,  has trialled, refined, evaluated, and confirmed the impact of YouMeUs on team members, and subsequently upscaled organisation-wide this evidence-based training. YouMeUs has now been completed by over 7,000 staff to support improvement in their knowledge and understanding about disability, support needs, learning strategies and communication. Data gathered from these 7,000 staff has provided compelling evidence as to the impact of YouMeUs with their confidence and capability to welcome, support and include people with a disability having improved significantly.

In response to the evidence, YouMeUs online training has been embedded into Belgravia Leisure’s induction and onboarding process for all staff, with a requirement that all staff complete the training within their work hours.

Belgravia Foundation would like to thank those who have been involved in the YouMeUs initiative and are excited to continue to make this impactful program freely available throughout the leisure sector, and contributing towards the development, promotion and advocacy of access and inclusion in the sports and leisure industry.