A SHARED mission to enhance industry standards has been announced as part of a landmark collaboration between the physical activity sector’s leading bodies.
As part of the development of The Active Standard, which is set to launch later this year, ukactive has been engaging with partners Sport England and Right Directions (which delivers Quest), and The Royal Netherlands Standardisation Institute and EuropeActive (which delivers the European FITcert Scheme).
The Active Standard will be open to all ukactive operator members, whether from the private or public sector, free of charge as part of their membership. The new standard has been tested through an extensive pilot scheme with representative operators from across the sector, supported by Right Directions.
Together, the partners have committed to support the alignment of The Active Standard with the sector’s existing standards schemes, so that more organisations across the UK are encouraged to begin or progress their continuous improvement journey.
The partners have agreed to share expertise and resources in order to establish a stronger ecosystem of industry standards that caters for organisations of all types and sizes.
While each of the standard’s schemes will maintain their unique position in the market, the offer has been designed to be complementary, ensuring clear and supportive pathways for accreditation and improvement, dependent on the needs of the site and the operator. Specifically, member operators which have achieved either Quest or FITcert accreditation will automatically achieve The Active Standard accreditation.
The Active Standard is a baseline accreditation for ukactive members. Member operators will be required to register their facilities for them to be assessed on a quality scale. Acknowledging the different levels of knowledge and experience across the sector, some organisations will be able to evidence how they already comply while others will be supported to work towards achieving accreditation to TAS. Once completed, TAS certificates can be publicly displayed and promoted.