Deaf personal trainer who used to leave the gym crying wins national award for disability-friendly Instagram

A deaf personal trainer aiming to make the world of fitness more accessible has been crowned ‘Influencer of the Year’ at the national disability charity’s annual awards. 

The Sense Awards, now in its 21st year, is the charity’s annual celebration of people with complex disabilities and those in their lives who support them. There are 13 categories in total which aim to recognise the achievements of disabled people and those who support them, including carers, campaigners and fundraisers.  

One of the people recognised by the charity this year is India Morse, a deaf personal trainer, influencer and accessibility advocate.

India, 30, from Leyton, fell in love with training and fitness from a young age, and especially loved how happy and mindful it made her feel. However, her earlier experiences in the gym were challenging, especially because so many gym classes and sessions use loud, thumping music and spoken instructions, with nothing written down.

India, who has been deaf since birth, said she’d be left feeling completely useless and go home crying.

Research from Sense shows that India’s experiences are not uncommon. In a poll of more than 1,000 disabled people, nearly half said they’d like to be more active, but are prevented from doing so due to societal barriers, such as inaccessible venues and a lack of trained staff.

These negative experiences inspired India to launch a range of accessible workout sessions, which she hopes will help to build a community of deaf fitness lovers and to encourage others to begin their fitness journeys.

Her videos and other content, which India shares with her almost 32,000 followers on Instagram, are both subtitled and signed in British Sign Language. The fitness instructor also partnered with Joe Wicks, The Body Coach, to ensure her videos reach as many deaf people as possible.

India’s content has helped to break down barriers and inspire others. A Sense fundraiser recently informed the charity that they’d signed up to the Royal Parks Half Marathon because they'd felt motivated by India and her journey.

In recognition of India’s amazing achievements, she has won Sense’s Influencer of the Year Award. 

India said:  “Thank you so much Sense for giving me this award, it means so much. When Sense dropped me a message that a fundraiser had raised money for Royal Parks Half Marathon because of the talk that I did that inspired them, it makes my heart happy as I wasn’t expecting to make this positive impact towards them, so it left the special moment in my heart.

"Sense is a great charity because they just want to help people with disabilities to experience their magical moments because they do matter. I’m so grateful for the recognition of all my hard work. I have so many fabulous ideas for the deaf community but just need more hours in the working day!”

Sense, the national charity that supports people with complex disabilities, received more than 100 nominations for its awards this year. It was down to a team of disabled judges to review the nominations and decide the winners.

These judges were: author Lisette Auton, playwright Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, influencer Shelby Lynch, activist Paige Barnes, singer-songwriter Joe Kenny, Drag King Crip Ladywood, and the first blind female fitness instructor Jaina Mistry. You can find out more about them here: www.sense.org.uk/sense-awards/judges/ 

Richard Kramer, Chief Executive at Sense, said:  “India Morse has used her social media platform to really make a difference to the lives of many disabled people, by providing workout videos that are fully signed and subtitled.

"Lots of disabled people want to get fit and do more exercise but there are just so many barriers for them to navigate, but India is helping to break these down. We’re thrilled at Sense to be able to recognise her at our awards!”

Sense will be revealing this year’s winners on its social media channels. You can find out more about the Sense Awards on the charity’s website: www.sense.org.uk/sense-awards