The Seminar will cover:
This seminar will take a look at barriers to access for LGBTQ+ people into fitness. LGBTQ+ people are underrepresented within the fitness community and experience higher levels of low mental wellbeing and mental-ill health than their heterosexual and cis-gendered peers. Traditional marketing within the fitness industry has seldom represented the LGBTQ+ community and we know from research that being able to see ourselves represented in sports helps access to provision.
The seminar will also touch on barriers to access for other underrepresented demographics of society.
Val studied at Ruskin College in Oxford, so named after John Ruskin who was a radical pioneer of socialist thought. At undergraduate level Val studied working with LGBTQ+ young people for her dissertation and achieved a first-class grade for her work. She was then invited to speak at a conference at Manchester Metropolitan University on this research and her findings. Val continued studies on the Post Graduate Diploma in Women’s Studies at Ruskin College. She deems this a very special opportunity since Ruskin College played a pivotal role in the Women’s Rights Movement and was the birthplace of the Women’s National Liberation Movement.
As well as being a thought provoking and engaging workshop, it will give attendees the chance to make notes on things they can take back to their setting in order to implement immediate change for the benefit of the provision and members, both new and existing.
This Worksop is designed for:
- Independent Fitness Professionals
- Gyms
- Health Clubs
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the impact of societal prejudice, unconscious bias and implicit bias on barriers to access for LGBTQ+ people as well as other demographics of society
- Understand the impact of language, culture and marketing on barriers to access for LGBTQ+ people as well as other demographics of society
- To begin to develop a plan of action to reduce barriers to access for LGBTQ+ people as well as other demographics of society
