How leisure staff helped during covid

STAFF working for the borough’s sports and leisure centres have been helping residents during the pandemic and will continue to do so as we emerge from lockdown.

Cllr Charles Margetts, executive member for health, wellbeing and adult services and Conservative candidate for Finchampstead North, said that the council’s Moving With Confidence project saw the staff receive referrals from adult social care officers, the voluntary sector, the One Front Door scheme and GPs.

It helps reisdents who have had loss of confidence, fitness and mobility, which has put them at risk of falls, social isolation and deteriorating health.

The sessions are one-to-one and so far 127 residents have benefited from the scheme.

The council has launched a new mental health service in conjunction with MIND, which aims to launch the scheme next month. It will help 1,200 residents a year once fully established.

The sports and leisure teams have also been helping the council run lateral flow testing centres six days a week, and helping GPs with the vaccination programme.

The final way in which they help include supporting residents who have been discharged from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in a partmnership with AGE UK Berkshire.

“The scheme has been warmly welcomed by residents and has prevented readmissions and call outs,” he said.

He was responding to a question from Philip Cunnington, the Conservative candidate for Norreys ward.