Utilise the literature provided by IMAS and England Squash as you will need this before approaching anyone regarding the open day. First port of call should be to make contact with your local council and to find out if they have a disability sports development officer (which they should). This will ensure the information gets into the right channels and has a further reach.

Next it’s taking some time to look at what you have in the local area. Schools (mainstream & specialist), colleges, care groups and other mixed ability sports teams. Speak to people within the club and see if they know of anyone that the sessions may benefit. Make sure everyone receives a flyer/poster with relevant info on. Do not rely on the council fully as not everyone will pick up official emails. Always aim to keep things as personal as possible. Phone calls, face to face meetings etc.

It is important that you look beyond the walls of the club and really put a big emphasis on the local community and the people who are not getting the same access to sport. Understanding that there are a huge amount of people that may never have heard of squash 57 and possibly don’t know you are even there is really important. It’s just a matter of finding them (using the methods mentioned above). If that means approaching someone in the street with a flyer then great! I have done this and it works!

The clue is in the title. It’s mixed ability so hopefully you will have participants of all abilities, each with particular needs that need to be met. You have to be prepared to adapt your sessions to suit the needs of that specific individual. Going in with an open mind and not too much structure is an important part of the preparation process as you will need to make the session work around them. Does anyone at the club have experience in the field, specialist education, care work, or a family member they support? If so this can be a real help in delivering a fun and enjoyable session where everyone gets maximum input. Put the feelers out early to club members and see if anyone wants to get involved. The more the merrier and it can only help in creating a good atmosphere on the day.

This is an essential part of the process when trying to attract people to the club that probably have no experience of the game and potentially feel like it’s just not that accessible . There's loads of help out there and plenty of people that will be willing to help you, it’s just figuring out how to tap into it. All the resources you need are at your fingertips. Spend time researching groups that are already running projects for people with learning disabilities. In Calderdale we have the magpies mixed ability rugby team who were more than happy to help when we got in touch.

Our ethos at Calder Community Squash and something we are incredibly passionate about is helping the communities we live in whilst growing the game we love. We asked ourselves a couple of questions before embarking on our open days. Firstly - are we truly inclusive? The answer to this was definitely no. Although Old Crossleyans squash club is a friendly, warm and welcoming club open for all to join, we don’t have any members with a learning disability. We saw this as a real opportunity to change that and felt as though running some open days would allow us the chance to explore the potential around mixed ability sport.

We kept things really simple and fun. A quick hello, what’s your name and where do you come from and a few stretches, followed by general ball control and a quick assessment of standard. We had three coaches on the day and three courts so we quickly split people into groups. Some did shuttle runs/walks using the skills they had developed earlier. On another court we had people practicing hitting the ball against the wall off a feed. If someone managed to do it we made a massive fuss and put a big emphasis on the celebration. We even had a celebration walkway made up of cones! On the final court we managed to get the most able playing some games.

The day felt like a success with all participants clearly enjoying themselves and coaches alike. After speaking with several members, friends and the club committee we have seen the interest in mixed ability sessions grow, so we are now currently looking at putting together a mixed ability squash 57 team, with weekly training sessions and hopefully some competitive matches! Not to mention a few new members! We hope this will inspire others to do the same, and look forward to what the future holds for mixed ability squash 57 in Calderdale!

Local Authorities vary across the country, but a significant number have sport development teams that can assist you by promoting your activity or upcoming events within your local area. They will also know of local community groups who you can market your sessions to and make contact with.

There are 43 Active Partnerships across England who work collaboratively with local partners to create the conditions for an active nation, using the power of sport and physical activity to transform lives.

Active Partnerships are locally based strategic organisations that recognise that activity levels are affected by a complex system of influences and no single organisation or programme create sustainable change at scale. By adopting a collaborative whole system approach, Active Partnerships seek to make active lifestyles the social norm for everyone and address the worrying levels of inactivity in society.

Find your Active Partnership here.

Your local county association can help promote your club or any activities you have planned and provide any appropriate support.

If your club currently has any sponsors share the information and leaflets with them about the sessions and see if they can send it to their customers.

In your local community there may be community groups who look after or run sessions for individuals with disabilities. Send a couple of leaflets to these groups to advertise your sessions or make an appointment to meet someone from the group to discuss the group coming along to the club.

Near your club there may be schools or colleges that specialise or cater for individuals with disabilities or people who need a little extra support. Reach out to these schools and colleges and invite them to your session.

This fund will make awards, using National Lottery funding, of between £300 and £15,000, from a total pot of up to £5m.

Sport England want to support projects that bring communities together and provide sport and physical activities for people who may be less physically active. Therefore, they want organisations to consider how they could work more collaboratively across their community, in order to make the biggest possible impact.

Find out more about the fund and apply here.

Each year Sport England invest more than £250 million of National Lottery and public money to help people play sport and take part in physical activity.

From the different funding streams that you can apply for funding to help your club deliver Mixed Ability Squash sessions.

Take a look at the different funding opportunities here.

Active Partnerships are locally based strategic organisations that recognise that activity levels are affected by a complex system of influences and no single organisation or programme create sustainable change at scale. Active Partnerships offer funding locally to help support community programmes and projects.

A list of all Active Partnerships and their contact details can be found on the Sport England website at Active Partnerships, make contact with your Active Partnership to see what funding they have avaiable.