Thousands of children aged two and over have been busy enjoying another exciting programme of free sports and activities during the summer.
Tamworth Borough Council unveiled its programme of sport activities; ‘Playscheme 2023’, in July this year until 31 August, with record numbers of over 3,000 children and young people attending the daily programme throughout the school summer holiday.
The summer activity programme offered a wide range of activities for children aged two and upwards, completely free of charge.
The varied programme, funded by Tamworth Borough Council, included dance, soft play, football camp, boxing, and sessions available to book at Jump Xtreme, Wilnecote.
Activities took place across the borough, including the Castle Grounds, Tamworth Enterprise College, Brent House in Wilnecote and SMDA - dance academy on Birds Bush Road.
Over the course of the summer holiday, the programme provided more than 190 hours of physical activity, helping children and young people achieve the recommended activity levels of 60 minutes per day, emphasising the message that being active for at least an hour a day is linked to better general health, stronger bones and muscles and higher levels of self-esteem.
Following on from the success of the Playscheme, the popular Tennis for Free initiative will run all year round for children aged 12 years and above.
In addition, Tamworth Borough Council also have free access to exercise workouts by fitness specialists Les Mills at Tamworth Assembly Rooms.
In a six-month trial to help locals get active, a full programme of exercise workouts such as BodyCombat, BodyBalance, BodyAttack, Sh’Bam and Barre, will be available for free. The council’s Active Wellbeing team have organised access to online workouts by fitness specialist Les Mills in a bid to make quality workouts easy to access for all, especially those on low incomes.
As part of the trial, Tamworth Borough Council have also arranged for all Tamworth schools to have free access to the Les Mills ‘born to move’ children’s and young people’s programme. This programme can be used by schools at any time to suit them; as PE lessons, during wrap around care or even to keep children active during wet play.
The full programme of free workouts is currently being developed and will be available in the next few weeks. Look out on the council’s Assembly Rooms website for details.
Andrew Barratt, Chief Executive for Tamworth Borough Council, said “These activities are always a huge success and proven to be very popular, it is great to see so many young people in Tamworth participating and getting active.
“Tamworth Borough Council’s Sports Development Team have worked with sports clubs from across the borough to put together the sports programme. I’m delighted that the tennis can now be booked all year round for free!
“Helping children and young people from across Tamworth access sports and activities for free, or trying something new, plays an important role for everyone’s health and wellbeing. Being active is a good foundation for a healthy lifestyle as well as reducing the risk of certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.”