Tag: health

#KeepOctoberFree – Edinburgh Leisure launches September Campaign

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Edinburgh Leisure has unveiled their September offer, designed to help thousands of new customers to try new activities and get more active this autumn. With recent research highlighting the dangers of inactivity, the not-for-profit company which manages City of Edinburgh’s Council leisure services is offering new members joining in September a free month in October.

With 30+ venues offering 9 swimming pools, 14 gyms and 700+ fitness classes per week, Edinburgh Leisure is the ‘biggest club in town’ providing the widest range of fitness classes, state of the art facilities and community based programmes across the capital, creating opportunities for everyone to get active, stay active and achieve more.

Catherine Wilson, Marketing Officer at Edinburgh Leisure said: “With the Paralympics just around the corner and with the Olympics recently finished, we hope it’s inspired people to sit less and move more. We’re passionate about providing opportunities and support for people to participate in physical activities and sport, whatever their age and stage.

“And for those joining in September, they’re going to be so busy with all the wonderful facilities that Edinburgh Leisure has on offer across the city centre that we’re urging them to keep October free, as well as giving them that month for free.”

From 26 August, new joiners will get one month free (October) when they join before the end of September. Existing members who refer a friend, who then joins, will receive £30 cash back.

With adult memberships starting from as little as £29.90, there is a range of packages, including swim, fitness, gym and climbing.

Many of Edinburgh Leisure’s gyms have had a recent refurbishment including Glenogle, Portobello, Craiglockhart, and The Royal Commonwealth Pool. Drumbrae Leisure Centre is also undergoing a major refurbishment, and is due for completion in October 2016. At the end of last year, Edinburgh Leisure had invested £1 million in fitness equipment in five of its 15 gyms.

Edinburgh Leisure gyms have the latest state of the art equipment including some of the newest cardiovascular machines; offer over 750 fitness classes per week including Les Mills Programmes; and have five modernised Victorian pools and the Royal Commonwealth Pool in their portfolio. They also recently launched Clip ‘n Climb at Edinburgh’s International Climbing Centre at Ratho, the first of its kind in Scotland.

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Edinburgh Leisure is also running a weekly competition on their Facebook page to win one of five ‘My Zone’ belts. Visitors will be encouraged to tell Edinburgh Leisure what they are going to do to #SitLessMoveMore and #KeepOctoberFree. Winners will be picked at random on 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 September.

My Zone uses new technology and is a motivational belt which straps to the chest during exercise and tracks physical activity in real time and online.

The device measures the customer’s My Zone Effort Points (MEPs), a unique way of measuring activity and the results of exercise. It calculates calories burned, duration and time of activity, as well as factors including weight, muscle mass, body fat and heart rate.

For further information about the offer and to be inspired with hundreds of ways to get active, visit www.edinburghleisure.co.uk, like Edinburgh Leisure on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EdinburghLeisure/)  or follow on Twitter (@Ed_Leisure)

Summer Holidays – but not for all …

Can’t afford to get away on holiday this summer? You’re not alone – it’s a Europe-wide issue, as EC economic analyst M. Vaalavuo explains ...

seaside

Schools are closed, summer holidays are here, and also this blog is having its well-deserved summer break. Like many of you, authors of Evidence in Focus are leaving their desks to travel in Europe and beyond. However, without wanting to spoil your holidays, this may be a good time to recall that 39 per cent of Europeans cannot afford paying for one week annual holiday away from home.

This is a form of deprivation that is taken into account in the calculation of the EU’s indicator of the risk of poverty and social exclusion (AROPE) which counts people who face

  1. monetary poverty (discussed already in several blog posts e.g. comparing the situation of young and old Europeans and looking at parental employment and child poverty), and/or
  2. low work intensity, and/or
  3. severe material deprivation.

The last one is an absolute measure of living standards that complements the measure of relative monetary poverty (people with disposable income below 60 % of the country’s median income). The EU severe material deprivation rate is currently defined as the share of the population living in households that cannot afford at least four out of nine items. 8.9 per cent of the EU population were in this situation in 2014.

One week annual holiday away from home is one of these nine items. Other items are for example the capacity to face unexpected financial expenses, to afford a washing machine or a car, and the ability to avoid arrears in mortgage or rent payments. The most prevalent forms of deprivation concern holidays and the capacity to cope with unexpected expenses.

Across countries, there is a huge variation in the share of people who cannot afford holidays away from home (see chart). In the Nordic countries, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria, fewer than 20 per cent of the population are deprived of an annual holiday in 2014, while in Hungary, Croatia and Romania this concerns more than 60 per cent.

Not surprisingly, people who are at risk of monetary poverty are also most likely to be deprived of holidays away from home: 70 per cent of them cannot afford holidays. But even among those who are not poor in monetary terms, a third is deprived of holidays away from home.

However, the situation is improving in many countries. Since 2008, the share of people not affording holidays away from home has decreased in 15 EU Member States: especially in Poland (11 pp.), Malta (10 pp.), Portugal (9 pp.), Austria (9 pp.), and Bulgaria (9 pp.). Furthermore, after an initial increase in the share from 2008 to 2010 in the Baltic countries, the share has since then fallen in Lithuania by 20, in Latvia by 18 and in Estonia by 16 percentage points. This development can be considered a real improvement in living conditions of these people, but it still leaves us many to be worried about.

After the holdidays … Evidence in Focus will be back in September. We wish you a great summer!

Author M. Vaalavuo is a socio-economic analyst in the unit of Thematic Analysis of DG EMPL

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

Editor’s note: this article is part of a regular series called “Evidence in focus“, which will put the spotlight on key findings from past and on-going research at DG EMPL

European Health Insurance Card

European Health Insurance Card

What is the European Health Insurance Card?

A free card that gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in any of the 28 EU countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, under the same conditions and at the same cost (free in some countries) as people insured in that country.

Cards are issued by your national health insurance provider.

Important – the European Health Insurance Card:

  • is not an alternative to travel insurance. It does not cover any private healthcare or costs such as a return flight to your home country or lost/stolen property,
  • does not cover your costs if you are travelling for the express purpose ofobtaining medical treatment,
  • does not guarantee free services. As each country’s healthcare system is different services that cost nothing at home might not be free in another country.

Please note: when you move your habitual residence to another country, you should register with the S1 form instead of using the EHIC to receive medical care in your new country of habitual residence.

 

First sod cut at North West Partnership Centre

Maureen Watt

A sod cutting ceremony was carried out last week to officially mark the start of construction work on the first of three health and social care centres in Edinburgh and West Lothian. Maureen Watt, Minister for Mental Health, officially cut the ground on the North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre in Muirhouse on 6 July. Continue reading First sod cut at North West Partnership Centre

Access all areas with summer fitness pass

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With Edinburgh’s numerous festivals about to begin and with the Olympics just around the corner, festival goers and workers can keep up their energy levels and enjoy their fittest summer ever! 

Edinburgh Leisure has launched its Summer Pass, so that during this summer of sport, everyone can keep active and healthy throughout the heady days of the festivals. 

The Summer Pass offers unlimited access to the city’s 14 gyms, 9 swimming pools, over 700 Fitness Classes, saunas, steam rooms, Turkish Baths and climbing at the EICA until 31 August for £59 only, plus 25% off lots of other activities including golf and racquet sports. 

A ‘Junior Summer Pass’ costs £39 for Under 18’s and juniors get access to racquet sports and golf for this price, on a turn up and play basis before 4 pm, Monday to Friday. Booking in advance is not possible. The Junior Pass will expire on 21 August 2016. 

Catherine Wilson, Marketing Officer at Edinburgh Leisure, said: “Anyone lucky enough to be in Edinburgh for the festival knows it is always a fantastic atmosphere, and it takes energy to take in so many shows and party into the small hours. 

“And during the year of the Rio Olympics, we’re inviting festival-goers and workers, visitors to the city and juniors to be inspired and keep their energy levels high by keeping fit and active throughout the summer. 

“Classes like Zumba or Sh’bam are brilliant fun and a great way to get you in the mood to party, while a workout at the gym will boost your energy for the night ahead. We’ve also got some quick hit X-press gym classes, which used high intensity training (HIT) methods with explosive bursts of speed and activity to achieve a total workout in a short period of time, as 30 minutes. And if you have really overdone it, you can spend the morning chilling out with a swim and sauna, or even the Turkish Baths at Portobello.” 

For further information simply pop into any Edinburgh Leisure venue across the city or visit www.edinburghleisure.co.uk

 

Life in the fast lane with Edinburgh Leisure

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Appealing to those who want to use swimming as part of their fitness programme, Edinburgh Leisure is piloting ‘Lane Fit,’ which is their new lane only swimming sessions. It is being rolled out at six Edinburgh Leisure sites initially from 1 July, providing more lane swimming opportunities every week across the city.

At the ‘Lane Fit’ sessions, the pool is exclusively programmed for lane swimming  offering slow, medium and fast lanes, making them suitable for all fitness levels and swimming abilities. To enhance the experience, each session will provide floats and pool buoys for swimmers to use and Edinburgh Leisure will be providing guidance on how to use lanes effectively, including lane etiquette.

Shelagh Jackson, Aquatics Manager at Edinburgh Leisure said: “Our customers have told us they’d like more opportunities for lane swimming, whatever their level of fitness and swimming ability. Lane Fit provides this and we’re delighted to offer this pilot in so many of our venues across the city.”

Swimming is an excellent whole body workout and an all-round wonder sport, whatever your age or ability. It improves muscle, tone, strength and improves flexibility. Taking part regularly can reduce your risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and stroke. The support of the water makes it low impact on joints, and done regularly it will improve flexibility and strength.

Edinburgh Leisure offers a swim membership for £33 per month, which gives unlimited swimming across all Edinburgh Leisure pools and access to all of our aquatic fitness classes. Joint, student and 65+ memberships are also available.

For more information:www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/memberships 

Customers are encouraged to download the free Edinburgh Leisure app to reserve their place or book online for the new Lane Fit sessions in July to be entered into a prize draw to win a Speedo giveaway.

24 hour paediatric services to stay at St John’s?

Two site option recommended 

st johns

An expert review has concluded that inpatient children’s services should be retained on two sites in Lothian – St John’s Hospital (SJH) and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC). Continue reading 24 hour paediatric services to stay at St John’s?