The Every Body Moves Awards: A Celebration of Accessible, Inclusive Movement

A Day When Everything Felt Possible

“By the time we got home, most of us were exhausted, emotional, and still absolutely buzzing — the good kind of tired that comes from doing something brave, joyful, and a little bit unbelievable. The kind where your body needs rest, but your heart is very, very full.”

Some of our Mobilates members travelled to London to collect our award from Every Body Moves, and what followed was a day that’s going to stay with us for a very long time.

The Every Body Moves Awards celebrate organisations and communities that are breaking down barriers to physical activity and making movement more accessible and inclusive for disabled people and people living with long-term health conditions.

For Mobilates, this recognition means so much because our whole mission is built around exactly that: creating accessible, inclusive spaces where people can move in ways that work for their bodies, feel safe, feel seen, and feel part of something — whether that’s through Pilates, Love to Move, Qigong, focused sessions, equipment classes, book club, togetherness sessions, socials, or simply being part of a supportive community. Being there wasn’t just about picking up an award — it was about standing alongside others who believe that everybody really does deserve the chance to move.

From the moment we arrived, it felt like more than an awards ceremony. It felt like a celebration of what accessible, inclusive movement really means in real life — not just in theory, not just in policy documents, but in bodies like ours. Bodies that live with pain, fatigue, mobility aids, dislocating joints, and all the invisible things people don’t always see.

The awards were organised by Every Body Moves and hosted by the incredible team at Flying Fantastic. We were also joined by Paralympic athletes, including Will Bayley, who very generously brought one of his medals with him and let us all try it on. That moment alone summed up so much of the day: inspiring, human, joyful, and shared.

A particularly proud moment for us was seeing Leanne centre stage to receive the award on behalf of the whole Mobilates community. Mobilates was built on a dream of creating truly accessible, inclusive movement spaces — and seeing that work recognised, in a room full of people who genuinely get it, felt like a powerful acknowledgement of years of care, commitment, and belief in doing things differently.

Here are a few moments from the awards and the start of a very special day.

After the awards, we moved — together. We started with a bed Pilates session led by Leanne, using Flying Fantastic’s crash mats and our own cushions for head support. It was gentle, thoughtful, and deeply accessible and inclusive.

The kind of session where everyone is seen, and where accessibility and adaptations aren’t a compromise — they’re just part of how we do things. As a group, we have this quiet, unspoken way of supporting each other — noticing, adjusting, encouraging, laughing — and that sense of safety changes how people move and how people feel in their bodies.

Because we’re mostly online, coming together in a shared space brought its own little adventures — and laughs. For the bed Pilates session, we had to share mats, and in some moves we had to sync ourselves carefully so we didn’t bash knees with each other! Different environments, different people, and slightly closer quarters than usual made it all a little more challenging — and a lot more fun.

Exercising and teaching from home reduces travel, fatigue, and other barriers, but there are some experiences, like acrobatic aerial, that simply aren’t possible at home. For that, this space was absolutely perfect.

Then came the part that still feels a bit surreal to write about: we flew.

With the guidance and care of the Flying Fantastic team, we got to hang, swing, go upside down, and quite literally take to the air. We used aerial slings, silks, and the hoop, and were shown so many different movements — all of them adaptable, all of them offered with respect, patience, and belief. They made aerial movement feel not just inclusive, but genuinely accessible — safe, supported, and possible for bodies like ours.

What stayed with me most was this feeling: everything seemed possible. There was never a doubt that we could try what was being shown to us. That doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from careful preparation, brilliant teaching, and a culture of trust.

Some of us lived out dreams we never thought would be for us — playing at being sloths and bats wrapped up in silks, laughing through nerves, cheering each other on. We overcame fears and challenges together. There was so much communication, demonstration, encouragement, and genuine respect in that space. It wasn’t about pushing limits for the sake of it — it was about being supported to explore what might be possible, safely and with joy.

And then came the part where we moved, flew, laughed, and surprised ourselves…

In many ways, the day felt like the coming together of two unbelievably innovative, forward-thinking organisations, sharing not just activities, but values: accessibility, inclusive language, shared perspectives, new friendships, and a belief in defying boundaries that are so often placed on disabled people.

We also got to sit, eat, chat, and connect — including meeting some Mobilates members in real life for the first time. That sense of community, of finally being in the same room together, added another layer of meaning to the whole day.

Huge congratulations to Flying Fantastic on winning the People’s Choice Award — and thank you for not just hosting us, but truly holding us, both literally and emotionally. Your generosity, care, and professionalism (especially from Molly and the team) made something that might have felt scary instead feel safe, joyful, and genuinely possible.

Thank you as well to ParalympicsGB and Toyota UK for supporting the awards, and to everyone we met along the way — including Will Bayley, for being such a fantastic sport and sharing such a special moment with us.

The award itself was a celebration — but the day showed us exactly why this work matters, and what becomes possible when accessibility and inclusion are done with imagination, care, and heart.

Looking back through the photos, all those smiles, the laughter, the moments of wonder — it makes me so happy. The awards were incredible, but that day as a whole was something else entirely. The chance to immerse ourselves in something so new, so playful, and so amazing as a group gave us memories and energy that I hope we can carry with us through the more challenging times.

That sense of joy, connection, and “we can do this together” is something I want to hold onto forever. We’d planned tea and cake afterwards, but in the end we listened to our bodies and headed home to rest — a simple reminder that even on the best days, we still have limits, and that the day had already given us more than enough in connection, love, and laughter.

We asked each person who came along to choose their favourite photo from the day. These are a few of the moments we’ll be carrying with us....

Our bodies needed rest by the end of the day. But our hearts? Our hearts were full.

You can find out more about Flying Fantastic here.

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Mobilates CIC provides inclusive, adapted exercise for people living with long term health conditions, chronic pain, fatigue and disability.

We create safe, welcoming spaces to move, connect and build confidence in what your body CAN do, whether you join a class in person, online, or from your bed. We’re led by lived experience and powered by community. Together, we’re redefining what movement can look like.

💗 Join Da Mob: www.mobilates.com

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