GM Moving - Accessibility in Volunteering

‘Access’ Volunteering for disabled people in the Sport, Physical Activity and Movement Sector in Stockport.

Volunteering in movement, physical activity and sport matters to disabled people. That’s why GM Moving are working alongside Sector3, Seashell and Breakthrough UK to support the sport, physical activity and moving sector in Stockport to work together to reduce and remove barriers for disabled people to volunteer, creating inclusive volunteering opportunities which enable people and communities to be active. We all have a role to play in tackling these inequalities in our volunteer workforce, but this can be difficult without the right training, resources and support for organisations.

To support the sector to achieve this ambition, we are offering a series of workshops and resources to support organisations to improve their disability inclusion, in particular relating to volunteering. These workshops will be safe space for conversation, exploration and learning about the recruitment, training and support of disabled people into your workforce as volunteers.

The sessions will take a Community of Learning approach, with reflections following each session around how what you have learnt during the sessions and through support resources has helped to develop policy or practice within your organisation. We therefore encourage learners to attend all 3 sessions plus a reflection session to gain the most benefit and to help embed their knowledge and understanding. All sessions will be delivered in-person at Merseyway Innovation Centre.

Workshop 1 - Wednesday 30th October, 10am-1pm

The Social Model, Foundations for Change and Action Planning, delivered by Breakthrough UK. This introductory session will focus on understanding the Social Model of disability, exploring how we can use this to remove barriers, design opportunities with inclusion in mind through the Foundations for Change framework, and developing an action plan to support this.

Workshop 2 - Wednesday 27th November, 10am-1pm

Disability Awareness training delivered by Seashell. The sessions aim is to equip staff and volunteers, inform and increase understanding and empathy. We aim to create a safe space to reflect and examine how as a sports club, group, or organisation you can effectively communicate and respond to people with a diverse range of needs and abilities interested in volunteering with you.

Workshop 3 - Wednesday 29th January, 10am-1pm

Based on top tips shared by Volunteer Managers across Stockport, this session will be an opportunity to share and discuss best practice in volunteering recruitment, onboarding and experience for disabled people. This will feed into an action planning activity to support attendees to implement their learnings from the three workshops.

Reflection session - Wednesday 12th February, 10am-12pm

This session will provide an opportunity to partners to come back together to collectively reflect on the impact of the sessions and wider support on their policy and practice, and how we might build on this. What have we learnt, what changes have been made as a result, and what might the impact of these be?

Please note the room at Merseyway Innovation Centre holds a maximum of 10 people.

Refreshments such as tea and coffee will be provided.

Accessibility

Merseyway Innovation Centre is accessible via the first floor from the Merseyway / Redrock car park. Please wave at the door and a receptionist will let you in.

Parking

The Merseyway / Redrock car park is the closest and most accessible car park.

Alternatively Warren Street car park (The Old Sainsburys) charge £3.50 for the whole day, if you're looking for a cheaper option.

Greater Manchester Moving is GM’s movement for movement; led, supported, and connected by the Active Partnership of the same name, alongside thousands of organisations across the city-region. The movement shapes and powers the shared GM Moving in Action strategy.

We are a Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) based in Manchester.

• We are managed by d/Deaf and disabled people.
• We promote d/Deaf and disabled people’s rights, responsibilities, choice and control.
• We work with d/Deaf and disabled to help you access information in a way that works for you.
• We work with organisations system leaders and policy makers to remove disabling barriers.
• We work with d/Deaf and disabled people to make long–lasting change.

Seashell Trust is a charity in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for children, young people and adults with sensory impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties, and profound communication difficulties.

As Stockport’s charity infrastructure support organisation, Sector3 offers Voluntary, Community, Faith-Based groups and Social Enterprises a multi-faceted suite of support, training, guidance and funding opportunities, enabling organisations to deliver social action on local priorities.

Twitter: @Sector3SK

Host or Publisher Sector 3