“Everyone living with disability deserves to be safe, strong, fit, independent, and to belong.”
That’s the ethos that underpins South Australia’s Enable Fitness Centre.
Enable is a network of gyms in Adelaide designed exclusively for people with disability to allow them to train and develop strength and fitness in a supportive, accessible facility.
CEO Zoe Darling said she and co-founder Ross Gray, an accredited exercise physiologist, have “always shared a passion for inclusivity, social justice and community-building”, which provided the foundation for Enable.
“Our mission is to support South Australians living with a disability to improve their health and wellbeing through high quality, holistic and innovative allied health services, while also building a genuine, supportive community where everyone feels safe and included,” she said.
In his work in exercise physiology, Gray has always focused on improving his clients’ health and wellbeing – so opening Enable was a logical step.
For 10 years he worked at a rehabilitation centre and saw firsthand the lack of options for people after they left the hospital system.
“There were simply no safe, accessible spaces where people with disabilities – particularly those using wheelchairs or other mobility aids, or those with cognitive impairments – could continue their rehabilitation or work on their fitness goals in the community. Mainstream gyms weren’t safe or accessible; therapy options were sterile and offered no sense of normalcy or community,” Darling said.
Enable’s centres are built with a focus on accessibility for both physical and sensory differences, including wheelchair-accessible gym equipment, stepless entry, automatic entry doors with wide doorways, wheelchair accessible bathrooms and private therapy and changerooms – and South Australia’s only underwater treadmill hydrotherapy tank.
“Enable is purpose-built exclusively for people with disability – this isn’t a commercial gym with a ramp, it’s a fully disability-exclusive environment, designed from the ground up to empower our clients. We’re a multidisciplinary allied health service wrapped around a gym, with physiotherapy, exercise physiology, hydrotherapy and dietetics all under one roof,” she said.
Expert staff provide evidence-based, tailored programs for clients designed to meet their goals and needs. Exercises are adapted with specialised equipment and supports, and a dash of creative problem-solving. Clients are encouraged and supported to build their strength, mobility and capacity through the customised equipment available.
She added it’s the culture and vibe of Enable that sets it apart and keeps clients coming back.
“There’s a warmth and energy that you can feel as soon as you walk in. There’s laughter, encouragement, and a genuine sense of connection and community, built on shared experience between clients and respect and positivity from clinicians.
“We’re a welcoming community where people feel safe, respected, and empowered.”
And Darling said staff love watching their clients hit their goals and build their strength and fitness at Enable.
“Supporting a client to take their first steps after months or years of hard work, watching friendships form between clients, or hearing a family say ‘you’ve changed our lives’ – those are the things that stick with you. But what’s most rewarding is knowing that we’ve created a space where people feel valued, capable and enabled – a legacy that goes beyond us as founders. That’s what drives us every day,” she said.
Enable Fitness Centres are currently only located in South Australia, and the team is working hard to make the model sustainable before considering expanding to other states.
Photo: Zoe Darling and Ross Gray