STAFF from Bolton at Home have taken part in wheelchair dancing and blind football sessions — to help them better understand the issues facing disabled tenants.

There were also talks from guest speakers on subjects including visual impairments and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender housing strategy.

Workers also tried African dancing and drumming and sampled food from different countries as part of the housing association’s “diversity week”.

One of the organisers, Becky Wood, Bolton at Home’s equality and diversity adviser, said: “The aim of our diversity week was to try alternatives to traditional methods of training, and to help us work better for our clients, who come from various backgrounds and cultures.

“The event has had a positive effect on our staff and sparked some really interesting conversations, and it is our intention to keep those conversations going and use as a platform for further celebration of diversity and understanding of inequalities in the future.”

Bolton at Home — the town’s biggest provider of social housing with 18,000 homes — invited the disability charity Daisy UK to Leverhulme Park to teach staff how to play blind football.

Daisy UK founder, Dave Kelly, said: “We had loads of fun and hopefully have managed to raise some awareness about visual impairments.

“The idea is to teach people about care and empathy so they will have a greater understanding when they come across someone with a disability.”