The following principles offer six overarching considerations on how to address barriers. These principles emerged from the research on different equalities and priority groups. They offer considerations which cut across groups and create synergies between them. These should be considered along with the learning notes.
Education:
Educate to build an inclusive sports culture.
- Ensure EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) training is available for all staff and volunteers in sports organisations
- Ensure policies offer procedures for reporting and addressing discrimination and abuse of any kind, including that which is targeted at sports staff and participants
- Build an inclusive organisational culture which does not tolerate any form of discrimination of abuse due to race, disability, gender identity, age or other characteristics.
- Work with local media to improve coverage of equality issues in sport.
- Promote sports as an accessible way for everyone to boost health, socialise, and develop new skills rather than focusing solely on competition or performance.
Community empowerment:
Empower diverse leadership and involve local community organisations in decision-making.
- Champion the principle of 'Nothing about us without us' in all inclusion work. This means giving leadership to disadvantaged groups in sports inclusion work from start to finish.
- Build trusting relationships through collaborations with local community leaders and grassroots organisations such as local women's groups, local ethnically diverse communities, or local LGBTQIA+ organisations. Where they exist, include groups which focus on intersecting disadvantages, for example mothers of disabled children, or Asian LGBTQIA+ groups.
- Co-create consultations to understand the barriers and specific needs of different local groups, and communicate effectively how changes are implemented in response.
Affordability:
Improve affordability of sports.
- Provide more free and low-cost subsidised memberships, courses and activities.
- Offer more sessions in local spaces to reduce transportation costs and improve accessibility.
- Increase availability of free and low-cost equipment and clothing to suit a variety of needs.
Facilities:
Make sports facilities accessible and safe for everyone.
- Invest in making spaces more accessible for different groups, recognising the opportunities for meeting overlapping needs. For example, by creating more individual changing facilities to jointly meet the needs of women, people from different faith groups, disabled people and trans and non-binary people.
- Make use of local multi-use community venues for outreach and activities, which may be more accessible and feel safer to different groups, such as local churches and mosques, or community centres.
Workforce:
Diversify the workforce and improve working conditions in sport
- Encourage diversity in recruitment practices.
- Address inequalities in sports employment conditions, including gender, racial or disability pay gaps.
- Improve career progression opportunities for staff from underrepresented groups.
Evaluation:
Engage in meaningful data collection and evaluation.
- Be clear about what data collection is needed, and communicate transparently what equalities data is being collected for what purposes.
- Engage in self-evaluation and community consultation and involve diverse communities in decision-making for improving inclusion.