Deaf News: Preston City Trampoline Club is first to be awarded DEAFinitely Inclusive accreditation by UK Deaf Sport

Preston City Trampoline Club has become the first community sports club in the country to be awarded DEAFinitely Inclusive accreditation status by UK Deaf Sport.

The club will use their new accreditation to promote and deliver more inclusive opportunities for deaf children and adults in Preston.

Over recent months, Preston City Trampoline Club has been working with UK Deaf Sport to complete the new DEAFinitely Inclusive accreditation scheme.

Through the scheme, the club has identified and addressed many of the barriers that deaf people can face when wanting to take part in gymnastics.

To ensure the club sessions are inclusive for deaf people to attend, club coaches have attended an effective communications course to develop their confidence and skills in delivering sessions for deaf people.

In December, on completion of the scheme, the club was awarded official status as a DEAFinitely Inclusive club and granted use of the official kite mark. The club will use their new status and kite mark to promote and build the confidence of the local deaf community to get involved with the clubs sessions and activities.

Fiona Robson from Preston City Trampoline Club said:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded the accreditation, it has been a valuable process to undertake for all our coaches and volunteers. It has highlighted for us the barriers deaf people experience when accessing sport facilities.

“We have learnt so much about what we can do as a club to minimise the barriers and be as inclusive as possible in our practice. Our plan is to use our new found knowledge and expertise to support deaf people in our local community access gymnastics and trampolining here at the club starting with an open day.”

UK Deaf Sport hopes that as more sports clubs and leisure facilities sign up and complete the accreditation scheme, the DEAFinitely Inclusive kite mark will become widely recognised and act as a quality assurance mark for deaf people.

Participation Officer at UK Deaf Sport, Clive Breedon said:

“We’re delighted to award Preston City Trampoline Club with this accreditation and confirm them as the country’s first DEAFinitely Inclusive Club. The club has really embraced the whole accreditation process, developing their awareness of the challenges deaf people can face and implementing changes within their club to address these barriers.

“At UK Deaf Sport we believe sport should be for everyone and we look forward to working with many more sport clubs across the country, supporting them to become DEAFinitely Inclusive.”

The DEAFinitely Inclusive accreditation scheme and quality kite mark is the latest addition to UK Deaf Sport’s community programme and is supported by Sport England’s Inclusive Sport Fund.

For more information about the DEAFinitely Inclusive accreditation scheme and quality kite mark, visit www.deafinitelyinclusive.co.uk.