We are committed to promoting good health and wellbeing for all; expanding our sports and exercise offer to the local community is critical to achieving that vision. In delivering Community Plan Commitment 24, University of Edinburgh Sport & Exercise has made strides in improving the University’s provision of services for community sports groups and members of our local communities. Throughout the year, colleagues within Sport & Exercise continued to deliver a number of courses and workshops which are open to local community users as well as University staff and students. The activities include yoga, bootcamps, learn to lift, learn to run, tai chi, yoga and mindfulness retreats. Workshops are led by a qualified instructor and aim to build participants’ knowledge of safe and effective practice and experience of each activity. Image In going the extra mile to engage young community members, Sport & Exercise ran a programme where S2-S3 school pupils at Broughton High School made use of the centre’s facilities. Pupils benefitted from sessions run by clubs, coaches and staff. The programme was supplemented by planned reflection time where Broughton High School staff encouraged students to think about the importance of sport, transferrable skills and the opportunities gained by studying at university. The programme gave University students the opportunity to coach and engage with a diverse group of young people. Sport & Exercise hopes to develop and grow this schools project in 2023. Staff were so supportive and encouraging, especially with those kids who were struggling particularly. All the kids wanted to come back again, and they rated the session with ‘100 out of 10’ Marina Perez, Development Worker, Edinburgh Young Carers Image Sport & Exercise has also been running a small number of free climbing sessions for the local charity Edinburgh Young Carers to give children a positive experience and some respite from their caring responsibilities. The centre is exploring external funding options in hopes to keep this initiative going. Further, Sport & Exercise have been running Inclusive Sport Sessions. These free-to-attend activities include disability sport sessions. They are delivered by governing bodies to raise awareness and educate students in delivering these sports. Within the University of Edinburgh Sport & Exercise’s “Open to Everybody” approach, we commit to embed inclusion to ensure that our facilities provide a welcoming community environment for all. We commit to challenge unacceptable behaviour, combat prejudice, celebrate diversity and treat everybody with dignity and respect. G was particularly motivated after the group, and he told mum what a great time he had challenging himself during the group. He is quite shy and he has been a bit guarded in groups until now, so it was lovely to see the boost of confidence this session brought for him. We couldn’t be any more grateful for all this, and I am sure the little ones will have a great time today too. Marina Perez, Development Worker, Edinburgh Young Carers Find out more: Community Plan: Learn more about our Community Plan 2020 - 2025. This article was published on 2024-07-22
