We, the concerned muslim females of Brent/ Westminster council , come together to demand justice and transformation within Everyone Active leisure centre's. We call for the creation of safe spaces where every woman and girl can engage in recreational activities, fitness, and personal development free from the fear of discrimination or bias.

Everyone Active leisure centers play a vital role in promoting physical well-being and fostering community engagement. However, it is disheartening to acknowledge that not all individuals feel equally safe or welcome within these spaces. Women and girls from diverse backgrounds often face various forms of discrimination or bias that hinder their ability to fully participate in these activities.

Incidents regarding Islamaphobia have been occuring throughout different Everyone Active Leisure centres. Over the past several months, numerous incidents of racism, Islamophobia, and sexism have occurred at Everyone Active leisure centers, particularly affecting women and girls. These incidents have been reported by concerned members of our community who have taken the courageous step of bringing them to the attention of management.

Despite these efforts to shed light on the mistreatment and discrimination faced by women and girls within these centers, David Bibbi , The managing director of Everyone active, regrettably, turned a blind eye to these pressing concerns. Multiple attempts to engage with him and the management team have been met with silence and inaction, leaving those affected by these incidents feeling unheard and unsupported under the watchfull eye of Brent and Westminster council.

Brent council and Everyone Active are sytematically racist, sexist and islamaphobic. Kelly Eaton, the head of Community and Leisure, was assigned the responsibility of addressing these issues. Unfortunately, despite the passing of nine months, no progress has been made in addressing or resolving them. In order to eradicate Islamaphoboia, sexism and racism against minorites, we must establish the root of the problem.

On the 9th of September 2023, A male manager, Justin, had entered the swimming pool site during the women's only session, At vale farm sports centre, which understandably left the women using the facility in a state of shock and feeling violated. When confronted by members of the public the manager refused to acknowledge the disrespect and continued to argue with the service users, refusing to apologise and refusing to leave the site. Meanwhile keerthana, A female lifeguard, had become very confrontational and aggressive towards members using the facillity. This hostile environment was initially created by Anita, Tiffany, and dean, who are all managers of the centre.

They initiated a reduction in the weekly female swimming sessions, decreasing them from 6 hours to 4 hours per week, all the while using the possibility of discontinuing the women's sessions as a threat. By turning off the sauna while members are actively using it and increasing the temperature to dangerously high levels, they have created a hazardous situation. These are all contributing factors of Islamaophobia, as other members of Everyone Active are not facing these issues.

During sessions, the training pool is intentionally closed off, leading to all women and children using the facility being crowded into a single pool with just two lanes available. The other three lanes are reserved for private swimming lessons. This situation forces mothers with babies as young as seven months to use the main pool, creating a highly unsafe environment that could potentially lead to serious accidents.

 Everyone Active should establish clear policies against discrimination as well as thoroughly train their staff: Develop robust policies explicitly prohibiting any form of discrimination based on gender identity/expression; race; religion; ethnicity; sexual orientation; disability; age; socioeconomic status; body size/shape/appearance.

To address these challenges proactively, prompt action needs to be taken by both Brent and Westminster councils. These necessary changes should encompass:

- At Seymour and Dorchester Sports Centre, our aim is to create a secure environment for women and girls during ladies' sessions. This can only be achieved by substituting male lifeguards with female lifeguards during these exclusive sessions, as women and girls currently do not feel safe.
 

- We are also in need of additional ladies' swimming sessions at Mobley Sports Centre. In the past, these sessions were held on Fridays and Sundays but were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. We kindly request that Everyone Active and Westminster Council reinstate these sessions. The Friday sessions are currently insufficient, leading to overcrowding and disorganization, which can create a potentially unsafe environment.

-Finally, After numerous unsuccessful attempts to engage with Andy Davis from Everyone Active in Westminster, I find myself met with silence and no meaningful action. This situation arose from my request for ladies-only fitness classes at the leisure center. Despite there being more than 70 fitness sessions a week at Mobley Sports Centre, the management contends that they are unable to accommodate the requests of Muslim women.

We urge Everyone Active to take immediate action in creating safe spaces within their leisure centers by implementing the proposed measures outlined above. Let us stand united in our pursuit of justice and transformation for all women and girls who deserve equal opportunities to thrive within recreational activities, fitness pursuits, and personal development endeavors.