Tag: Edinburgh Leisure

May date set for Spartans’ sports day

spartans 2

Hundreds of local primary school children will be taking part in a major sports event being organised by Spartans Community Football Academy Event at Ainslie Park in May.

SCFA Youth and Community Worker Jamie Tomkinson said: “The Spartans Community Football Academy Sports Day will be held on the 20th of May. Eight local primary schools are involved – we reckon that will be around 350 P7s over the course of the day!”

Twelve different sporting activities will be delivered by local agencies on the day: Kabo boxing, Edinburgh Judo, Edinburgh Leisure, Fet-Lor, Granton Youth Centre and MY Adventure will all be supporting the programme – and Keith Cook, who is a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, will share his fencing skills. NEN, North Edinburgh’s community newspaper, has been invited to cover the event.

“Lorna Cruikshank, one of our young volunteers, will deliver a hockey station and we have a local samba band coming along to create an atmosphere and do a show for the opening ceremony!” Jamie added. “Many organisations have come on board to support the day – Ainslie Park Leisure Centre are letting us use one lane of their pool for the triathlon and Nike, who were a major part of last year’s success, will be volunteering throughout the event.

“There’s a lot of organising to be done and we are putting the finishing touches to the programme but the Sports Day is going to be a lot of fun – we’re all really looking forward to it and I’m sure the P7s are too!”

 

 

School holiday fun with Edinburgh Leisure

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Don’t miss out on the February holiday fun – it’s not just for the kids!  Everyone can have fun and keep active over the holidays!

For the wee ones there’s:

If they’re at primary schools there’s:

  • sports galore including swimming, trampolining, diving, gymnastics (freestyle and general) and lots of climbing throughout the holiday.
  • Paddington Play Sessions at EICA:Ratho – make your very own Paddington Bear at Honeypot and then play in Scrambles soft play for an hour, all for just £10.
  • limited spaces left on some of our Activator Multi-Activity holiday camps.
  • swimming for free for primary school children thanks to the City of Edinburgh Council funding during public swimming times at Edinburgh Leisure pools from 14th – 22nd February (inclusive).

And for the teens:

It’s not just about the kids – for the grown-ups:

Just remember that some of the pools may be running a slightly different timetable over the week – here’s an at-a-glance guide to pool swimming times for the week from 16th February .

Edinburgh Leisure

Free fun for under-fives this weekend

One, two, free fun with Edinburgh Leisure!

Under 5sEdinburgh Leisure is hosting free under 5’s Open Days at three venues this Sunday (7 September).

Experts agree the best way to help kids enjoy healthy, active lives is to start as you mean to go on, and Edinburgh Leisure has lots of activities that wee ones, and their parents, can enjoy starting from 4 months through to 5 years old.

Come and try out classes specifically designed for pre-school children. And look out for lots more fun around the different centres too, including face painting, bouncy castle and adult health checks!

The three Centres?You’ll find fun aplenty at Craiglockhart Leisure and Tennis Centre (9.15 – 12.15),  the Royal Commonwealth Pool (midday – 3.30pm) and Gracemount Leisure Centre (1 – 3.30pm).

For more information visit: www.edinburghleisure.co.uk

Female only swim sessions at Craigroyston

swimmerI would like to introduce a new female only swim session at Craigroyston High School on Sundays from 2 – 2.50pm. We have female only lifeguards on the poolside and the pool is closed to any other participants.

The cost of the session is £1.00 per adult. Children aged 8 years and under are welcome to come along to the session for free as long as they are with a female adult.

I have attached the flier with all the information for the female only swim session (below).

Female only swim session

NOTE: Sessions will not be held on Sundays 3 and 10 August due to maintenance to the pool – sessions will start up again on Sunday 17 August.

Marie Kneeshaw

Aquatics Development Officer, Edinburgh Lesiure
mariekneeshaw@edinburghleisure.co.uk
www.edinburghleisure.co.uk
Direct: 0131 458 2195

Edinburgh Leisure

Free swimming for kids at Ainslie Park

swimmers

Yes, it’s the Easter holidays … no money for trips and kids bored already? Well, holiday activities needn’t be too expensive – and sometimes they’re even FREE!

There’s free swimming for Primary School children this Easter break (5 – 21 April) when Edinburgh Leisure are running free swimming sessions for primary school children at three Edinburgh Leisure swimming centres.

This month, Primary School children can swim for free during ANY listed Public Swim session at Ainslie Park, Dalry and Gracemount (Wester Hailes Education Centre is offering free swims too).

Remember the earlier you get there the more fun you can have so Edinburgh Leisure recommend arriving no later than half an hour before the Public Swim session’s finish time.

Telephone Ainslie Park Leisure Centre on 551 2400 for more information – see below for pool programme details

AinslieParkPoolProg_2014

 

Don’t forget Forth’s Family Fun Day!

forth health

Forth Neighbourhood Partnership along with Edinburgh Leisure and Pilton Community Health Project is holding a Health Fair and Family Fun Day at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre tomorrow to showcase local health related services and activities and hear what local residents think are their priorities for improving health in the Forth ward.

The event will have a ‘market place’ format with people able to drop in at any time between 1.30pm and 3.30pm, with loads to see and do – see poster (above).

Don’t miss it – it’s what Saturdays are for!

… and Forth are having a Health Fair too!

Forth Health Flyer

Forth Neighbourhood Partnership along with Edinburgh Leisure and Pilton Community Health Project is holding a

Health Fair and Family Fun Day at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre

on Saturday 23 November

to showcase local health related services and activities and hear what local residents think are their priorities for improving health in the Forth ward. See the attached flyer for more details.

The event will have a ‘market place’ format with people able to drop in at any time between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

If your organisation would like to have some space on the day to publicise any health related activities then please get in touch with me at jim.pattison@edinburgh.gov.uk or on 529 5082.

Jim Pattison

Partnership Development Officer, Forth Neighbourhood Partnership

Forth Health Flyer

 

City makes a splash with affordable swimming

NonSwimmer

A £125,000 investment by the City of Edinburgh Council is to make swimming more accessible and more affordable for hundreds of young children and families across the Capital. A range of measures will be introduced over the next two years that will increase swimming provision and access to pools and schools for those who need it most – with free swimming for primary school children during the October school holidays!

The programme involves a ‘raft’ of measures including:

· free swimming during school holidays,

· top up swimming classes for P2-3 pupils,

· free family splash time sessions

· swimming classes for women and children from BME communities.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Swimming is a fantastic activity that is not only fun but keeps you fit and healthy too. The purpose behind providing a free programme of swimming is to open up our pool facilities to those that may never have tried swimming before or to encourage parents to take their children along for a fun family swim.

“We’ve worked closely with our partners in Edinburgh Leisure and sportscotland to produce a programme that specifically targets children and adults who need support the most and also benefits the most number of people for the money available. It builds on what was proposed by Splashback and, I believe, goes even further to ensure that children from all over the city have the opportunity both to learn to swim and enjoy it at the same time.”

Between Saturday 12 October and Monday 21 October, free swimming for primary school children will be available between 12-4pm in four city pools every day during the school holidays (with some exceptions – see Edinburgh Leisure website and Wester Hailes Education Centre websitefor details). The pools are Leith Victoria Swim Centre, Gracemount Leisure Centre, Dalry Swim Centre and Wester Hailes Education Centre.

These free swim session for juniors will be repeated during school holidays until April 2015 and will also include the pool at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre when it reopens after rfurbishment and upgrading later this month.

Further to this, from January, the Council will also provide additional swimming lessons for P2/3 pupils in eighteen schools designated as ‘positive action’ schools (where over 40% of pupils are entitled to free school meals). These will be run with Edinburgh Leisure who will provide additional teaching support to help these children develop early aquatic skills, knowledge of pool safety, and in many cases, introduce them to swimming for the first time.

Also early next year the Council will launch a ‘Family Splash Time’ programme which will provide parents and their children with eight weeks of fun, two-hour, swim sessions funded as part of this investment.

The Council also proposes to extend the successful ‘Female Only Swim’ sessions held at Leith Victoria to other parts of the Capital next year. These sessions are targeted specifically at the BME community where cultural and religious barriers may prevent women from participating in swimming.

The £125,000 funding for accessible and affordable swimming was agreed by the Capital Coalition earlier this year in recognition of Splashback’s commitment to increasing swimming opportunities for young people.

Graeme Gardiner, Director of Operations at Edinburgh Leisure said:  ‘We are delighted to be supporting this swimming initiative.  We passionately believe in the positive impact that sport and physical activity can have on individuals and communities and we want to inspire everyone in the city to be more active and healthy.  This swimming initiative provides a great way of encouraging people to get active and try out swimming.”

splash

 

On your marks for Festival of Sport

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Edinburgh’s Festival of Sport kicks off this weekend and runs until 8 September.

From aquafit and athletics through to volleyball and walking – and lots of sporting activities in between –  there’s something for everyone at venues across the city.

See the above programme for details or visit:

www.activity.info/festivalofsport

festival

Scottish Sailing Trust launches public appeal

New Trust formed to run the Sailing School at Port Edgar

A new trust is being set up to run a Sailing School at Port Edgar following the decision by Edinburgh Leisure to close the Watersports Centre there. The new trust, established by members of the community, plans to become a registered charity and buy the boating assets from Edinburgh Leisure to ensure the activities at Port Edgar can continue.

The trust aims to continue to provide a full range of courses and activities to children, adults, schools, sailing clubs and commercial businesses. It also plans to work closely with local authorities and RYA Scotland in developing its services, particularly for disadvantaged groups.

The trust will be called the Scottish Sailing Trust to demonstrate how convenient and accessible the location is for over 75% of the Scottish population and to demonstrate its aim to cover a wider area than just the local South Queensferry community.

The trustees have applied for a SportScotland grant to part-fund the acquisition of the Edinburgh Leisure assets but it also needs financial support from the public as well as local businesses and clubs to demonstrate the public support it has and to secure its future.

The appeal, which was formally launched yesterday (Tuesday 20 August), aims to raise a minimum of £5,000 and gain grant funding of £5 for every £1 raised.

Edinburgh Western MSP Colin Keir supports the community-led initative. He said: “This is local people taking charge of the situation in a bid to run the school alongside the successful sailing club. Many hundreds of people including youngsters will benefit from this.

“I congratulate the Scottish Sailing Trust for their efforts so far and offer them every assistance to get this great idea off the ground.”

Further details can be found at http://www.scottishsailingtrust.com

or email:  info@scottishsailingtrust.com

Port Edgar