Paisley Daily Express

More kids than ever are getting active thanks to partnershi­p

- ANDREA LAMBROU

More than 10,000 kids have taken part in Active Schools sport sessions in Renfrewshi­re in the last year.

Many opportunit­ies have been created for young people to take part in sport and physical activity through the network with 10,600 children making 238,000 visits to a wide range of activities in Renfrewshi­re in the last twelve months.

The latest data published by sportscotl­and shows that Active Schools continues to have an impact on children’s physical activity levels with 7.3 million visits made to activities across Scotland in 2018/19 – an increase of 0.4 per cent on the previous year.

The number of people delivering the sessions has also increased nationally, up 3.3 per cent with 84 per cent of deliverers in

Renfrewshi­re being volunteers.

Mel Young, chairwoman of sportscotl­and, said: “It is fantastic to see that Active Schools continues to grow year on year with more opportunit­ies delivered and another increase in the number of people participat­ing.

“Our mission is to help young people get the most out of the sporting system at every level and Active Schools has a crucial role to play in engaging young people in sport and physical activity.

“We talk about making an impact together and Active Schools is a great example of working with the right partners in the right way to deliver results.

“The Active Schools network is reliant on strong local partnershi­ps with schools, local authoritie­s, sport developmen­t teams, regional managers from governing bodies of sport, volunteers and the clubs who welcome children and young people into their communitie­s.”

Active Schools, one of sportscotl­and’s longest running flagship programmes, is designed to provide more and higher quality opportunit­ies to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school.

Developing effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community is a key factor in its success and there are now 2,700 clubs linking directly with schools giving children and young people the opportunit­y to continue in sports to the level they choose.

Chairwoman of Renfrewshi­re Leisure, Councillor Lisa- Marie Hughes said: “Our aim is to encourage people of all ages to become more active and take part in sports, which has obvious positive benefits to health.

“It’s important young people are given the opportunit­ies to take part in sport and the work our staff, schools and sports clubs do as part of the Active Schools programme goes a long way to achieving this.

“We will continue to work to encourage even more young people to experience the benefits of sporting activity.”

Delivered in partnershi­p with all 32 local authoritie­s and their leisure trusts in primary, secondary and ASN schools, Active Schools is now a wellestabl­ished network of over 400 managers and coordinato­rs and makes a significan­t contributi­on t o d e l i v e r ing an active Scotland.

We will continue to work to encourage even more young people to experience the benefits of sport

 ??  ?? Spoiled for choice Renfrewshi­re Leisure chief executive, Joyce McKellar, front left with RL board chairwoman, Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes and new sports equipment for Active Schools
Taking part
Youngsters get stuck in with an Active Schools volunteer
Spoiled for choice Renfrewshi­re Leisure chief executive, Joyce McKellar, front left with RL board chairwoman, Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes and new sports equipment for Active Schools Taking part Youngsters get stuck in with an Active Schools volunteer

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