MORE than 100 staff and members at Life Leisure took a break from their daily routines to join a mass flash mob-style exercise regime.
The event – which saw staff and members stop their work or training to perform a choreographed exercise
‘Bring Sally Up’ and completing 3,900 squats between them – was organised as part of National Fitness Day to encourage people to see the gym as a community where they can meet and socialise as well as a place
to keep fit.
Ross McGuigan, active communities manager at Life Leisure, said: “Life Leisure is all about encouraging the whole community to keep active and working together.
“We want people to come to the gym not just as a place to work out or exercise, but somewhere they can come to meet people and look after their social wellbeing too.”
“Lots of people come and just keep their heads down and crack
on, so by introducing this flash mob workout we were encouraging people to engage with the other members around them.
“It was great fun, there were lots of laughs and a real sense of camaraderie.”
The flash mob fitness sessions took place across eight of the centres run by Life Leisure across Stockport on Wednesday, September 21.
Also taking part in the National Fitness Day challenge were members
of the SMILE Big Brew Social group in Gatley, and member Lucy Nield, 73, who was joined by fitness instructor Colin Mills to cycle a mile for each year of her age.
Lucy joined Life Leisure six years ago as part of its Physical Activity Referral in Stockport scheme when she was ‘prescribed’ exercise through her GP and supported by dedicated staff at Life Leisure and is keen to promote the social and physical benefits of exercise.
LYNDSEY Barrett has been awarded an honorary degree by Writtle University College in Essex.
Lyndsey founded Sport for Confidence in 2015. The organisation has created opportunities for more than 3,000 individuals who face barriers to participation in sport.
Sport for Confidence’s healthcare professionals, namely occupational therapists, work collaboratively with sports coaches with the aim of making society active and more equitable.
Lyndsey was awarded a British Empire Medal in recognition of her work in 2021.
Writtle University College’s vicechancellor professor Tim Middleton said: “We were delighted to confer honorary awards as part of our graduation ceremony.
“Lyndsey Barrett is an inspiration to our students and has made incredible contributions to removing barriers to participation within sport.”
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Lyndsey, who worked as a senior occupational therapist for the NHS before launching Sport for Confidence, has extended occupational therapy practice into mainstream community-
based settings, such as leisure centres.
Her work enables more people to enjoy community spaces that promote movement, activity, wellbeing and relationships.
Her ambition to influence nationally and to reimagine physical inactivity from an occupational perspective has recently resulted in a system partnership investment from Sport England.
Sport for Confidence now operates at multiple leisure centres across Essex and London, bringing occupational therapists together with sports coaches to deliver goal oriented, person-centred sporting experiences.
Lyndsey said: “‘I am absolutely delighted to receive an honorary degree from Writtle University College.
“It is a privilege to be an occupational therapist and to be able to apply an occupational perspective to tackling inequalities in physical activity participation.
“There has never been a more important time to level the playing field for those most excluded from the huge benefits that sport and physical activity provides.”
Writtle University College offers further and higher education sports courses on its countryside estate near Chelmsford.
The University College’s facilities include a new Centre of Sport and Health which supports students, athletes and the local community.
It is also home to the Writtle Performance Centre, a physiology lab that supports athletic performance. In 2023, the University College will offer two new Health, Sport and Wellbeing degree courses; BSc (Hons) Health and Exercise Psychology and BSc (Hons) Health and Physical Literacy.
Lyndsey accepted her honorary degree as part of the official, annual graduation ceremony held within the grounds of the University College’s countryside estate.
ALLIANCE Leisure has appointed Gareth Liversedge as delivery manager as it continues to expand to meet increasing demand for innovative leisure, recreation and play facilities across the UK.
Gareth will support the team’s business development managers to deliver projects in the South West region.
He brings 25 years’ health and fitness experience to the role having worked in both fitness operations and sales.
Gareth joins Alliance from Technogym where he worked for seven years, most recently as regional key account manager.
Prior to this he spent five years as leisure manager at Nuffield.
“I’ve worked with the Alliance team
ever since I started at Technogym, Gareth said.
“In fact, half of my projects every year involved Alliance in some way, so it’s exciting to be joining the team to work on developments from the other side.
“The sector has come such a long way since I started out as PT and
the scale of innovation in the public sector is impressive.
“I loved taking fitness projects from concept to conclusion at Technogym, and I can’t wait to work on far bigger leisure development schemes at Alliance, helping clients to transform their provision to meet their business objectives and get more people active.”
Julia Goddard, senior business Development manager at Alliance Leisure, added: “Gareth is a familiar face to Alliance and has worked well with members of our team over the years.
“He shares our ethos and will play a key role in delivering our existing pipeline of leisure projects as well as our future development plans. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
Lucy Nield is joined by Colin Mills to take part in a cycle challenge (left) and staff at Life Leisure head office taking part in the challenge (right). Lyndsey BarrettSPORT England has launched a new assessment to replace the Inclusive Fitness Initiative and support leisure operators in providing more inclusive and accessible physical activity opportunities for people from different inequality groups.
The Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard can be undertaken stand alone or as part of Quest, Sport England’s continuous improvement tool for leisure, which measures how well a facility is operating and how effective organisations are across a range of different areas.
Co-written with Activity Alliance, Tackling Inequalities will help facilities assess how they plan, communicate and serve the local community to help them become more physically active.
It focuses on five key inequality groups including people from lower socioeconomic groups, people with longterm health conditions, culturally diverse communities, disabled people and socially excluded groups.
If management choose to go for the Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard as part of Quest Plus, the centres will complete two modules.
On day one, the Tackling Inequalities module considers evidence such as strategies based on local needs and priorities, accessible activities, partnership working, reviews, training and resourcing, as well as demonstrating the impact made in tackling inequalities.
On day two, operators will complete Accessible Facilities, an assessment of the facility from a user’s perspective against key inclusive focal points,
including the provision of accessible changing rooms, working hearing loops and other inclusive equipment, to help facilities meet their design and operational obligations for different user groups.
To achieve the Standard, operators must score Very Good in both modules. Further elements linked to Tackling Inequalities (Workforce & Venue Accessibility) are also covered in other day one modules, as well as part of the Quest Mystery Visit.
Sarah Maxwell, head of external accreditations for Right Directions, which manages the scheme on behalf of Sport England as part of Moving Communities.
She said: “IFI was focused on disability
and long term health conditions, which are now integrated into all aspects of Quest.
“Through the Tackling Inequalities module we have widened the categories to include more of the local population – it’s more holistic and a lot more fit for purpose, assessing whether a facility is set up to serve a wide ranging and diverse community.
“Do you know the demographics of your area? Do you know the profile of your current customer base and staff members? Is there a synergy between your area and your users?
“And, if not, what can you do with your products, programmes, services, stakeholder engagement, staff training
and communications to make them more inclusive to the community you are supposed to serve?
“For instance, programming that’s not all focused on fat burning – how about Tai Chi for older people, Mums and Tots classes and even offering a carer card to enable easier access to activity for people and their carers?”
The new Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard will complement the ongoing work of Activity Alliance in its aim to improve the way organisations think and act upon disabled people’s experiences, and to support facilities to include more disabled people in sport and activity.
Ray Ashley, director of partnerships at Activity Alliance, added: “The new Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard sees inclusion fully embedded in Quest, which will crucially enable leisure centres to think about inclusion in a more holistic way.
“By offering our experience, learning and resources through the new modules, we can continue in supporting the sector to break down barriers to being active, which have existed for far too long.”
To support the new Tackling Inequalities in Leisure Standard, Activity Alliance has created a helpful new resource for leisure operators.
The new factsheets provide clear and simple guidance, useful resources and top tips on how the leisure workforce can embed better inclusive practices within facilities and programmes.
This includes leisure centre and gym managers, facility management teams, marketing specialists and many others.
EUROPEAN aparthotel operator
Staycity Group has opened the doors to a cutting-edge gym in its newest and biggest property yet, Staycity Aparthotels Dublin City Centre, right in the heart of Dublin.
The new 340-room property located on Little Mary Street in Dublin, comprising of a new gym provided by fitness solution provider Gym Gear, has become an essential part of the group’s offering.
Nasser Shaher, director of procurement at Staycity Group, said:
“Our latest Staycity Aparthotel in Dublin, which opened this month, is our biggest property to date, so it was essential that we incorporated a gym that would not only meet the requirements of our guests, but that would also be robust enough to handle regular and sustained use.
“We are delighted to reveal that our new gym certainly meets the needs of our corporate guests and our leisure guests alike.
“It is a cutting-edge gym, and it offers a range of workout options for
all of our guests.”
UK fitness solution provider Gym Gear has been Staycity Aparthotel’s preferred gym supplier for six years.
Director David Bulcock added: “To date, we have provided nine gyms to the Staycity Group, and we have even more planned for the next 12 months.
“This new gym has something for everyone, from strength machines to cardio equipment and free weights.
“As a fitness solution provider we are seeing an increasing trend in all types of leisure providers who are
looking to incorporate gyms in their offering, from boutique hotels through to aparthotel groups like Staycity.
“A regular workout is becoming an essential part of people’s daily routine, as health and well-being are increasingly front of mind for us all.
“So, whether travelling for business or leisure, a quality gym with a range of equipment, is an important facility to offer to guests, and we are delighted that Staycity Aparthotel guests in Little Mary Street will be able to make use of this new gym.”
A disabled fitness instructor supporting a client on a rowing machine. Photo credit Activity Alliance.
