Active Downside

Active Downside was a Children’s Links play project designed to show the levels of physical activity for children engaged in free play opportunities in Downside in Dunstable, South Bedfordshire. Children from the area attended free Playranger sessions and wore pedometers provided by NHS Bedfordshire to gauge the amount of exercise children were getting from the sessions. The results were startling in that over the course of a 2 hour play session containing no organised sport of any kind several children did over 12000 steps which equates to an approximate distance travelled of over 6 miles.

The aim of this small scale study was to show the degree of physical activity children achieve through a free play session with no organised sports element. It was also to make the assertion that unlike sport which currently engages with around 30% of children in physical activity, free play sessions can engage with up to 100% of children, including those who are overweight or with varying degrees of obesity, those with dyspraxia or children lacking in confidence.

Community Active Rangers

This is a new project is based in South Bedfordshire and has Reaching Communities lottery funding. It aims to increase physical activity levels for children, young people and families. By working closely with the 3 communities of Tithe Farm, Parkside and Manshead we hope to have a lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of the whole community.
The Community Active Rangers provide regular open access activity sessions for children and young people. They will also organise events for families to all play together and adult only activity workshops.
 

Sports Rangers

Sports rangers aimed to provide children and young people with alternative opportunities to access physical activity, particularly those who would not necessarily access the recommended amount of school sport.

Barriers to participation in sport and physical activity for most children include time, cost, transportation and self-esteem. Although these barriers exist for children and young people, it is clear that sport plays a hugely important part of most children's lives. The aim of this project was to make sport more accessible and more attractive to those who choose not to access it within school. It did this through a focus on play and having fun rather. Key concepts from school and community sports coaching were incorporated into the scheme, such as having high quality coaches present, having clear and direct pathways for progression within a sport and empowering young people to develop leadership skills.