From InstructAbility to EmployAbility

The Aspire Leisure Centre has been employing disabled people, in a variety of staff roles, since the early 1990’s.

In addition to being a national spinal injury charity and inclusive community leisure facility, Aspire pioneered a pan disability leisure workforce programme, called, ‘InstructAbility’.  The programme enabled hundreds of disabled people with physical, sensory, cognitive and mental health difficulties, to gain instructor qualifications and subsequent employment with a vast range of leisure operators.

To maximise and share our learning in this field, we commissioned independent academic research with disabled people and those involved in leisure sector training, recruitment and employment. As a result, we have produced a set of three Guides to support the growth of disabled people in the sport and leisure workforce. 

Our aim is to work collectively to develop a sector in which disabled people feel confident and valued as employees, and where they can trust that training and professional development will be equally accessible to them as their non-disabled peers. This will attract more disabled people to work in the industry across all levels and roles and therefore bring down barriers for customers and staff alike.

We will seek to do this by publishing and supporting the implementation of evidence-based guidance for disabled people, training providers and employers. 

This sector wide initiative supported by industry leaders is called, 'EmployAbility Leisure'.