A huge thanks to Martin McKellar, founder of Get Active Coaching for sending in this article of the wonderful work he is doing in Renfrewshire with families. Get Active Coaching is based in Renfrewshire, and specialise in sport and exercise coaching for all ages and abilities. “Our one single aim is to help people live a healthier, happier, active lifestyle.”
Physical Activity Support Packs
We received £2,000 from the Scottish Government Wellbeing Fund which was administered by Corra Foundation. This money went straight into creating and delivering our Physical Activity Support Packs. One of our core projects as a Social Enterprise is to increase the provision of sport and exercise within our community. Not just by creating more opportunities to get involved, but to provide basic equipment and resources to enable people to get involved in our delivery. Exercise is crucial for mental and physical wellbeing, even more so during the coronavirus crisis and we wanted to break down barriers to participation for communities experiencing disadvantage to feel included.
A large portion of the fund created fifty packs that include skipping ropes, resistance bands, a letter from us directing them to our free online exercise classes, and resources from both The British Heart Foundation and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The second part of this project is underway by working with a local charity to provide appropriate equipment for young carers to get active through gardening.
Delivery and Impact
We wanted to ensure that our packs reached the right families, who needed them. As a result, we partnered up with The STAR Project: a local grassroots charity delivering sustainable and positive social outcomes for communities experiencing disadvantage. Throughout the pandemic, the project provided food packs to those in need. This allowed us to reach our intended families. Within two weeks of delivering our packs to the team at The STAR Projects, all fifty packs were distributed to these families, such was the demand for some resources and equipment.
Since delivering our packs, we have remained in contact with these families by collecting feedback on the impact they have had.
“100% of respondents to our survey say that the packs were informative and helped them improve their physical health by allowing them to get active. In addition, we received comments such as “it was fun being able to do activities with my children”.
This fund has helped us not only run, but kick start what is going to be one of our long term social missions: re-homing and re-purposing old/unwanted sport and exercise clothing. This initiative will allow us to sustainably reach families experiencing disadvantage and provide vital sport and exercise support.
Image credit: Paisley Daily Express
“Thanks to the Corra Foundation for enabling us to run this project. It allowed us to support our community in their time of need and also enabled us to kick start our long-term project to support more families in our community.”
You can find out more about Get Active Coaching by visiting their Facebook page.
