To receive information from Jatinder Singh Rakhra, Sports Inclusion and Participation Manager at Leisure Focus, on inclusive sports for people with disabilities at Braywick Leisure Centre.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra, Sports Inclusion and Participation Manager at Leisure Focus Trust and forum member, introduced himself and stated that part of his role was to facilitate an increase in physical activity among people with disabilities.

Leisure Focus ran sessions including disability swimming, boccia and wheelchair basketball, and had run a number of campaigns, including the Seven Days of Focus campaign, which aimed to increase activity for people with disabilities. 14 providers within the borough had been identified, and 34 different sessions had been held for people with disabilities.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra asked for collaboration in order to make sports more inclusive and ideas on how to reach more people within the borough.

The Chairman stated that advertising would be greatly beneficial to reach all members of the borough with mobility issues.

Dominic Manley stated that he agreed with the Chair’s comments and commented that a name for the programme would also be beneficial to increase awareness and recognition. Dominic Manley asked if any surveys had been conducted any feedback surveys to ascertain whether people knew that these services existed.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra stated that the programme was linked with afterSportsAble, which provided sport and activities for people with disabilities. Sessions were advertised on their website to increase outreach.

Councillor Price stated that the forum was for all residents so would like to see that this covered all leisure centres. Councillor Price also stated that she would like to see this programme being joined up with the borough’s work liaising with sports clubs across the borough on the activities being undertaken to help residents with disabilities.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra thanked Councillor Price for her comments.

The Vice-Chairman echoed Councillor Price’s comments and stated that it would be beneficial for RBWM to carry out this work.

Councillor Stimson stated that Sharon Bunce had approached her in March 2021 about storage for disabled basketball players in Braywick, and whether anything could be done to help with this issue.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra stated that he believed this issue to be resolved but welcomed further contact from Councillor Stimson.

The Vice-Chairman commented that Maidenhead United Community Trust organised a range of sports for people with disabilities.

Sharon Carrigan stated that sports for people with disabilities should include those with hidden disabilities in order to reduce exclusion.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra thanked Sharon Carrigan for her comments.

Councillor Brar asked Jatinder Singh Rakhra about setting up facilities for local groups for people with or without disabilities.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra stated that he would be happy to discuss this with Councillor Brar after the meeting.

Ellen McManus Fry, Equalities and Community Engagement Officer, asked about the Seven Days of Focus campaign that was run by Leisure Focus and whether much uptake had been seen.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra commented that the taster sessions had high attendance and worked to bring providers together to raise awareness.

Councillor Singh asked about how many people had switched from SportsAble to Leisure Focus and asked for a cost comparison in terms of services.

Jatinder Singh Rakhra stated that he had been in his role since February 2021 and could not give a detailed comparison from before this time. He echoed the Vice-Chairman’s comments and stated that it would be greatly beneficial for all information on sports for people with disabilities to be contained in one place.

Sharon Bunce asked Councillor Price for contact details for the officer responsible for sports clubs.

Councillor Price confirmed that this was Michael Shepherd, Sport & Leisure Service Manager.

Victoria Holt, Community Development Manager at Optalis stated that the Seven Days of Focus campaign, which was intended to coincide with the Parallel Windsor event which had been cancelled, would have served to bring many different groups together to offer different opportunities.

Sharon Bunce stated that she believed that the borough could play a role in developing a network between adult and learning disability social care and sports facilities.

The Chairman stated that co-ordination was key to evolving a proper sports disability structure going forward and welcomed further discussion at the forum meeting in March 2023.

The Vice-Chair stated that if people were interested, she would organise a working group in order to see how different organisations could collaborate to raise awareness.

Ellen McManus-Fry stated that one of the goals in the borough’s Corporate Plan focused on attendance at leisure centres among people with disabilities.

The Chair thanked all for their comments.