Belgravia Leisure, in partnership with the Belgravia Foundation, has been awarded the Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) VIC/TAS Region Award of Excellence – Community Based Initiative of the Year for the second consecutive year. The Foundation received the award for its community engagement YouMeUs program. The PLA Award of Excellence is the highest honour in the parks and leisure industry and recognises a significant contribution towards the development, promotion and advocacy of industry.
Richard Simon, PLA VIC/TAS Region Executive Officer, commented, “This award is wonderful recognition of a program enhancing inclusiveness and culture. It will make a difference to so many in our communities, who will have improved enjoyment of their leisure time. Congratulations, Belgravia.”
The YouMeUs program is an online training initiative developed in partnership with Belgravia Leisure. The program is designed to improve staff confidence and capability to be inclusive of people with a disability. After completing the YouMeUs training program, data revealed that staff felt substantially more confident, understood disability better, knew better how to communicate with people with a disability, and understood how to make leisure centres more welcoming, supportive and inclusive towards people with a disability.
Nick Cox, CEO of Belgravia Leisure, commented, “The YouMeUs training program has allowed our employees to interact more confidently with people of disability. The program has facilitated a greater understanding of how our leisure centres can provide more support for people of disability or disadvantage within local communities.”
“We are thrilled to have the YouMeUs program recognised in this year’s VIC/TAS Region Award of Excellence. In the current COVID-19 climate, effective online training is especially relevant and essential towards achieving our goal of connecting people with a disability, of diversity and those who experience disadvantage to sport, leisure, recreation and health programs,” said Jeff Walkley, CEO of the Belgravia Foundation.
The Parks and Leisure Australia National Award for Excellence 2020 winners will be announced in October this year. To find out more about the awards, visit https://www.parksleisure.com.au/awards/awards-of-excellence/
