Disability sport: Call to make gyms more inclusive

A woman with a learning disability wants gyms to be more inclusive for people like her so they can reach their full potential.

Aisling McCooey, 33, from Omagh in County Tyrone, has been weightlifting for almost a year but previous gym experiences had almost put her off.

“We didn’t get what some of us wanted to achieve, which was basically a gym environment.”

Aisling says she was given lighter weights and a lot of “chair exercises”.

The charity Mencap, which supports people with learning disabilities, says it has been working hard to train gym staff on how better to support people who feel like they are “being treated differently”.