The council's sports engagement team (SET) are involved in a range of projects across Warrington, find out more about community, health and youth ones below:

Men 50+

SET are currently working in partnership with Age UK Mid Mersey in running Men 50+ activity sessions.  All the sessions are free of charge and open to men over the age of 50.

The project is aimed at giving the men a chance to get healthy whilst also having fun and making new friends. There is a wide range of activities available – something for everyone!

Download the activity timetable: 50+_mens_health_activity_timetable.pdf

For more information or to book onto one of the sessions, please contact Clive Jones on 01925 444119 or czjones@warrington.gov.uk.

Fruit and Veg Bag Scheme

Dallam Primary School is the latest fruit and veg bag scheme to start trading in the Warrington area.

Staff and parents from the school place orders on a Monday and then fresh, high quality - but affordable - produce is then delivered for pick up on the Wednesday of that week.  

This is the latest in a line of fruit and veg bag schemes already running or in the pipeline for Warrington.  Other schemes include Bewsey Park, and very soon two more in the South neighbourhood.

Support is available for others who want to start up their own fruit and veg scheme including a toolkit, banner and potential funding to get trading.  This support from Sustain is available only until March 2012 therefore groups are encouraged to make contact quickly.

Support from the Community Food and Health Development Officer is also available to access this support and funding as well linking schemes up together with each other and introducing potential suppliers for the produce.

The aim is to bring high quality affordable fruit and veg to the people of Warrington into locations convenient to them, and at times convenient to them.

Examples of prices:

• 5-a-day fruit bag - £1
• 10 piece fruit bag - £2
• Mixed salad bag - £1.75
• Large veg bag - £2.50

Produce varies each week in accordance with seasons and availability to ensure prices are kept low.

For more information about accessing your local scheme or setting up your own scheme in your neighbourhood or office then please contact Louise Shannon on 01925 444119 or lshannon@warrington.gov.uk

Young people

SET run a programme with schools in Warrington where we deploy specialist sports coaches to deliver high quality sport and physical activity for young people.  In the last year there have been 12,010 attendances at these sessions across Warrington.

Positive Futures Warrington offers young people the opportunity to participate in activities, gain volunteer experience, coaching awards and other relevant training. The aim is to have a positive influence on young people's lives by widening horizons and providing access to new opportunities.

For more information please see the dedicated Positive Futures page.

Pathways

SET fully supports the model of Clubmark as a way to ensure that all clubs have the right processes, staff and volunteers in place to make a safe and fun environment for all concerned in a club.

We have recently secured a Club, Coach and Volunteer Development Officer, Tom Haworth, who will work with more clubs to help them work towards Clubmark accreditation and support their volunteers and coaches, ultimately benefiting all involved.

SET and its partners also offer support for sports clubs by facilitating a series of mini-forums which are meetings at a local level for sports clubs to come together, share ideas and look at funding bids. This work ties in to that of the Warrington Sports Forum as well.

For more information on Club, Coach and Volunteer Development within Warrington please contact Tom Howarth on 01925 444110.

Health

Make the Move is an employee-driven health and wellbeing programme aimed at increasing physical activity, managing stress and having fun with colleagues in social activities to create a good work-life balance.
Make the Move is currently working with the council and local NHS employees as well.

Creative Remedies is a free arts project offering performing and visual arts classes for adults with mental health needs. Whether the needs are mild to moderate or more severe to enduring there is a range of activity to suit all tastes.

If you are suffering from a mental health problem and would like to get involved in creative remedies or if you work with someone who has a mental health problem you can also refer them to the project - please contact Jan Hadfield on 01925 416872.

SET is working with partners on the Health on Wheels initiative, which is a cycling project for everyone. The rides are led by qualified leaders and volunteers. The health benefits of cycling are:

•    Cycling is low impact on your joints and bones
•    It can help to improve cardiovascular fitness
•    It's sociable, helping you to meet new people living in your community
•    It can reduce stress and help you relax being out in the fresh air.

Rides are suitable for all ages and abilities. Bikes and helmets are provided free of charge. Booking is essential, please contact Iain Lancaster on 01925 234213 or 07989399725.

Daisy Daisy is an adapted bikes project for everyone. A variety of adapted bikes are provided for people who can not manage a two wheeled bike for various reasons. All ages and abilities welcome. Booking is essential, please contact Iain Lancaster on 01925 234213 or 07989399725.

If you're interested or have ideas of other activities you would like to try please contact Graham Gray on 07949 854059 or email grahamgray@acmm.org.uk

Case studies

See some examples of our work by viewing the case studies below.

BQH_case_study.doc

Mature_Movers_case_study.doc

Verve_Place_case_study.doc