IWA Sport Gym Upgrade 2023

Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) is a community of people with physical disabilities across Ireland founded on the belief that everyone should be able to live a life of choice and equality. Our services support people with physical disabilities to live independently and our campaigns demand equal rights and opportunities for people with physical abilities with 20,000 members, over 2,500 employees, 57 local community centres and 2,000 volunteers. Irish Wheelchair Association is a leading National Governing Body of Sport for people with a physical disability across a range of sports and activities at all levels, from first time participants to elite athletes. Irish Wheelchair Association owns and operates a Sports Centre in Clontarf, Dublin Ireland. Included in the facility, is a gym that is fully accessible to all members of the community and offers visitors an opportunity to enjoy a fitness workout in a fully accessible and inclusive environment. The gym is open to IWA Members, ie People with a physical disability and the general public. We are currently inviting suppliers to provide tenders for an extensive upgrade to our gym equipment that maintains our ethos of accessible and inclusive fitness for all. The proposed equipment and materials must be robust, with a long-life expectancy and support high-performance physical activity, and be inclusive of for people with disabilities where requested. Key considerations are as follows. Accessibility • Flooring options should be fully accessible and user friendly to all visitors. Notably, entrance/exits should have cambered access for wheelchair users. • Where possible, the gym equipment should be considered ‘dual use’ which enables wheelchair users full access to the equipment. • Whilst an accessible quality standard is not required, a standard similar to or comparable to the UK IFI Mark is desirable. • Space to allow safe movement and between machines and the floor space is of paramount importance. • Where electronic control panels are used, ie treadmills, control options and safety features that allow people with different impairments, such as vision impairments are preferable.