By Julie Waters
BANGOR’S Aurora Leisure centre staff and trustees have been crowned as Autism NI Impact Award champions.
The Autism NI Impact Award is a certified training package that supports organisations to provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for autistic employees and customers.
Staff at the leisure centre, which is run by the Northern Community Leisure Trust in partnership with Serco, received tailored training that gave them the skills and confidence needed to support neurodivergent customers and employees.
During a year-long process, the staff team developed and refined an action plan, including changes that would make the Trust more accessible and inclusive for all.
Chris Kelly, Northen Community Leisure Trust contract manager, said: “We are delighted with the partnership that we have developed with Autism NI, their guidance and training has been invaluable to ensure we have staff qualified to support those neurodivergent customers and employees.
“Health and wellbeing is critically important to everyone both physically and mentally. As a supplier of these services in the borough it was extremely important that the staff were equipped to support all users of the facility.
“I would like to say congratulations to the staff on their Impact award and thank Autism NI’s Training Officer, Emma McAllister for her support.”
Emma said the charity was delighted that Aurora Bangor has achieved the Impact Award and is playing partits in building a more inclusive society.
“Through their training and action plan, Aurora Bangor has implemented a range of practical and meaningful changes to promote accessibility for autistic and neurodivergent customers,” she said.
“By providing practical accessibility options for customers, it supports autistic individuals and their families to access their service and helps their staff to feel confident to provide excellent customer care.”
Autism NI works alongside autistic people and their families, and builds partnerships that champion better understanding, accessibility, and services for our autism community.
The Impact Award is available for a range of organisations, to build their inclusive approach for clients, customers and employees. For further information, visit https://autismni.org/training-courses/training-for-organisations/impact-award-for-businesses or call 028 90 401729.
