Accessibility v Inclusivity đŸ’Ș

I want to share something with you, especially if you’ve ever felt left out, unheard, or like work and wellness just weren’t built for you.

Yesterday, I spoke on a panel at an Inclusive Employers event where 444 employers turned up wanting to make workplaces not just accessible, but inclusive. And I’ll be honest, it made me emotional.

First slide of event showing the title of the Accessibility v Inclusion event. The image displayed in a circle shows a man in a wheelchair sitting next to a woman, both looking at a laptop working.
First slide of event showing the title of the Accessibility v Inclusion event.

For too long, people like us

Leanne speaking to camera in a neon pink top with pink fitness equipment in the background.
Leanne speaking to camera in a neon pink top with pink fitness equipment in the background.

with long-term health conditions, disabilities, chronic illnesses have been left out of the conversation. Told we’re “too complicated,” or “too unreliable,” or just not included at all.

And yet, there they were, employers wanting to learn from our lived experience. Listening. Asking questions. Caring.

I shared my story about the struggles I’ve faced in work, how isolating and frustrating it can be when your health doesn’t fit the 9-5 mould
 and how that led me to create Mobilates.

Mobilates is different. We’re led by people with lived experience. We run gentle, chronic-illness-friendly movement classes and we pay and support people like us to teach them. It’s not just exercise. It’s about community, care, understanding, and creating safe spaces to move and rest, together.

And something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is this:

👉 I always said we offer “accessible exercise” but is it really about inclusion?

Before I met Michelle Daltry at an Include to Improve event, I hadn’t thought much about the difference. But now I can’t stop thinking about it.

Because YES, our classes are accessible (seated, online, flexible, sensory-friendly). But more than that, they’re welcoming. They’re built for people who’ve been left out. They’re inclusive.

And now I wonder:

🌀 What does inclusive exercise mean to you?

🌀 Have you ever been in a space that made you feel truly understood?

I’d love to hear your thoughts because this isn’t just a business. It’s a movement and it is something that I am extremely passionate about.

And if you’re someone who’s been made to feel like your body, your pace, or your needs are too much, I want you to know that here, they’re not.

You belong.

An image of the Mobilates logo which is a pink diamond shape with the word Mobilates in white across the centre and "stronger than yesterday" in smaller writing below. The image above is of an infinity symbol linking to a sunflower, all in rainbow colours.

Mobilates CIC provides online and in-person inclusive exercises classes for people in the UK. Classes centre around supporting people with mobility issues, chronic pain, disabilities and long-term health conditions.

www.mobilates.com

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