Youth action
ORGANISATION Live Active Leisure
PROJECT Active Energy scheme L
ive Active Leisure (LAL) launched its new Active Energy membership for 12- to 15-year-olds with a
flashmob in Perth City Centre in May. The flashmob, which saw Perth and
Kinross Youth Legacy Ambassadors lead an aerobics session, was the culmination of a two-year research project with local youngsters into how LAL should deliver leisure for its young residents. Perth and Kinross Youth Council
approached LAL early in 2011, having identified a number of key areas where they believed they could make a significant impact on young people’s lives – one being physical activity. After attending Youth Council
meetings, LAL’s marketing team and youth councillors, along with their Youth Council worker, had the idea for
A flashmob marked the launch of the youth membership
a summer of mystery visits around LAL- operated venues to establish young people’s thoughts on how accessible the products, services and venues were. They also carried out mystery phone calls and used the LAL website to find out about activities. After a summer of mystery visits, the
Youth Council members fed back their findings, making key observations on how the services could be improved, as well as identifying the next stage: using a questionnaire to ask young people how they wanted LAL to deliver their leisure. Over 250 young people aged 12 to 17
years responded to the questionnaire, with the findings showing that: Females are less likely to exercise
outside of PE lessons: only 41 per cent of females exercised at least four times a
week, compared to 61 per cent of males Females are more likely to exercise in
a school/campus environment and males slightly more likely to use a sports centre The fitness gym was equally popular
with males and females, but classes and swimming proved more popular for females, and team sports for males Younger people are likely to want to
exercise with their peers, whereas older respondents were less likely to do this As a result, LAL launched its Active
Energy membership for 12- to 15-year- olds – at 30 per cent cheaper than the previous membership – with unlimited swimming, sports hall activity, access to some adult fitness classes, all Active Energy fitness classes, and access to gyms with an adult or to a supervised Active Energy session.
Breaking barriers
ORGANISATION Inverness Leisure
PROJECT Helping children with autism
the first of its kind in the UK. In partnership with the National
I
Autistic Society Scotland, Inverness Leisure developed an illustrated booklet for parents and carers detailing the various experiences and sensations they might come across at a swimming pool. The scheme was created after CEO
James Martin was approached by a customer with an autistic child. “They had experienced difficulty and expense
Issue 4 2013 © cybertrek 2013
nverness Leisure has launched a free Swim Access Scheme for families affected by autism, thought to be
bringing their son to the pool,” he says. “They had to leave almost as soon as they got in the water, as the experience was too stressful for their child. “Our coaching and instruction staff
had been trained by the National Autistic Society (NAS), and by Highland Council’s outreach team on working with children on the autistic spectrum, so we had a good understanding of the needs of children with autism. We decided to do something about the situation our customer described, creating a scheme that would offer families the chance to prepare themselves to come swimming.” In addition to the booklet, each family
is also provided with six free family swim vouchers, allowing them to ‘acclimatise’ themselves with swimming at Inverness Leisure pools. “Swimming is a life-skill, and it’s important that everyone has access
Inverness Leisure offers autistic children and their families six free swimming vouchers
to water in order to build their understanding and confidence,” adds Martin. “The scheme also has the additional benefit of introducing children on the autistic spectrum to a very family-based activity, giving them the opportunity to improve their social development skills as well.”
Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital 49
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