Day: October 7, 2025

Breaking Down Barriers: Edinburgh Leisure’s Get Active Card supports healthier lives during Challenge Poverty Week

With Challenge Poverty Week (Monday 6th – Sunday 12th October 2025) taking place this week, Edinburgh Leisure, a registered charity and the city’s largest provider of sports and leisure facilities, is highlighting its commitment to supporting people affected by poverty and inequality to lead active, healthy lives.

Phil Trodden, Health Development Officer at Edinburgh Leisure, said: “Poverty and poor health are closely linked. Despite Edinburgh being one of the wealthiest cities in the UK, Edinburgh faces one of the greatest levels of inequality.

“Nearly 82,000 people here are living in poverty, according to the Edinburgh Poverty Commission. Life expectancy can differ by as much as 14 years between the city’s most and least affluent areas.

“We know that people living in deprived communities are far less likely to be physically active, which can have a huge impact on their health and wellbeing.”

Bridging the Gap with the Get Active Card

Edinburgh Leisure’s £10 Get Active Card is designed to break down barriers to physical activity for adults experiencing poverty. The card offers off-peak access to gyms, swimming pools, saunas, steam rooms, and group fitness classes across the city – helping people enjoy the life-changing benefits of being active, regardless of their circumstances.

Lorraine’s Story: A Life Transformed

One person who has benefitted from the Get Active Card is Lorraine, who lives with multiple sclerosis and had to stop working due to her health.

After a challenging period of illness, Lorraine was initially unsure about returning to exercise. However, with the encouragement of Edinburgh Leisure’s supportive staff and fellow participants, she soon found herself enjoying regular sessions and gaining confidence in the gym – something she never thought possible.

When funding ended for the programme, she was referred to, Lorraine discovered the Get Active Card. “It’s unbelievable value,” she says.

“Without it, I wouldn’t be able to maintain regular physical activity, especially in a gym setting.” Lorraine has seen improvements in her strength, motivation, and overall quality of life, and has even inspired others to get active.

Real Impact, Real Stories

“Other cardholders have described the Get Active Card as ‘lifechanging,’ ‘a lifesaver’ and ‘so valuable’.

“For many, it’s the only way to access affordable exercise, improve their health, and find respite from daily challenges,” Phil Trodden explains.

How to Apply

Anyone in receipt of the following benefits may be eligible for a Get Active Card:

  • Universal Credit
  • Income Support
  • Job Seekers Allowance
  • Guaranteed Pension Credit
  • Employment Support Allowance (ESA)

There are no joining fees or monthly subscriptions- just pay when you can. The Get Active Card costs £10 per month and gives access to Edinburgh Leisure’s gyms, swimming pools and fitness and gym classes, 7 days a week, up until 4pm each day.

The Get Active Care is not available online or via Direct Debit. To sign up, visit any Edinburgh Leisure venue and speak to a Welcome Host, or find out more at: 

www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/get-active-card. 

Edinburgh Leisure aims to welcome 150 new Get Active Card holders across its venues in October, with around 900 passes already sold each month.

More funding to tackle child poverty

Increased support for local initiatives

Projects aimed at tackling child poverty across the country will receive increased, multi-year funding thanks to a boost from the Scottish Government.  

Successful applicants to the third round of the Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund, now worth more than £1.8 million, will receive grants of up to £100,000 over two years to improve local services.  

The Scottish Government has already invested over £1.4 million to support 21 projects across Scotland over the first two rounds of the fund, having launched in 2023. 

Previous grants have been used to improve the use of data to identify families who need support, to improve access to financial advice services, and to support parents to engage with employability services.  

The fund sits alongside other innovative measures, such as the Five Family Payments, including the Scottish Child Payment, which are helping to reduce child poverty in Scotland.  

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Eradicating child poverty, supporting families and giving children the best start in life are the driving principles of this government. 

“That’s why, alongside a range of measures, we have reopened this fund to help local authorities and health boards to go further, aiding the collective effort to confine child poverty to history.

“Work through the fund has previously helped maximise income and to tackle household debt, which is vital to easing the strains felt by households as the cost of living rises, and I look forward to receiving many innovative proposals.

“Our collective measures mean that Scotland remains the only part of the UK where child poverty levels are falling.  

“We should recognise that progress, but we must not forget that one child living in poverty is one too many. We are laser-focussed on addressing the challenges faced by households across the country, and this fund is another step towards eradicating child poverty.”  

Transformation Project Manager at North Ayrshire Council Tracy Simpson said: “The fund supported the council on our journey towards implementing a North Ayrshire Single Shared Assessment model.

“Being involved in the fund’s project network provided an opportunity to share learning and experiences across local authorities and ideas from others helped shape work that could be replicated at North Ayrshire.

“Expanding our network and having access to key contacts has helped us to raise awareness at a government level about the key challenges faced around data reuse to maximise customer entitlements and target unmet need across the public sector. The support provided from the Scottish Government was exceptional.”

The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund strengthens the collaborative efforts to tackle child poverty between the Scottish Government and local partners. Elsewhere, through the Fairer Futures Partnerships (FFPs), the Scottish Government is working with local authorities to test and improve services to better help families living in poverty.  

Last month, the First Minister announced an extension to the FFP programme with support now available in 16 regions.

This included expanding to Dumfries & Galloway, Edinburgh, South Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian, meeting a Programme for Government commitment to work to identify further adopters in addition to three new partnerships in Fife, North Lanarkshire and Shetland this year.  

The proportion of Scottish children living in absolute poverty has reached its lowest level in 30 years and the latest figures (for 2023-24) show that the rates of both relative and absolute child poverty in Scotland were 9 percentage points lower than the UK average.   

Applications are open until Friday 21 November 2025.