Get Set for a healthier lifestyle with new UK-wide Beacons campaign
Get Set, the education programme from Team GB and ParalympicsGB, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year by launching the Get Set Beacons campaign across the UK. Our team presented at the event about the successful Sainsbury's Inclusive PE training programme, amplifying the need to ensure all children have positive experiences of school sport.
The campaign’s year-long wave of activity is designed to empower schools and youth organisations to build local links to encourage active lifestyles for young people. The campaign is offering 40 schools and youth organisations from across the UK access to funding, training and materials to help get their community active.
Get Set Beacons will be unveiled on Thursday 27 September at Birmingham City University and Serco Leisure Operating Limited’s premier events facility, The Pavilion, in Birmingham. The event will bring together the lead coordinator from each of the 40 specially-selected Get Set Beacons who all submitted winning project ideas to get their community active.
These schools and organisations will become Get Set Beacons across the 2018/19 school year, championing physical activity in their local community and inspiring other organisations to get involved and get everyone in the community moving.
Get Set Beacons is the latest in a long line of successful campaigns for Get Set, which aims to use the power of sport and the Olympic and Paralympic values to build excitement, advocacy and support for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and inspires all young people to fulfil their potential and lead healthy, active lifestyles.
The campaign aims to help people find opportunities within their own surroundings that they didn’t know were available before, and to help them discover new sports and hobbies to establish lifelong healthy habits. Visit the website for more information on Get Set and how Get Set supports schools to get active.
Jan Paterson, CEO, British Olympic Foundation commented:
“In its 10th year, Get Set is celebrating the positive social impact its programmes and activities have had on the lives of young people across the UK prior to and since the hugely successful London 2012. We are extremely excited about the Get Set Beacons which will bring together schools and their communities, by promoting active lifestyles and community cohesion opportunities for young people to be advocates for.”
Diane Bagley, Head of Sport & Community at Serco Leisure, said:
“Serco Leisure is delighted to be supporting such an exciting and important day. We firmly believe that by developing partnerships, we can make a significant impact on reducing physical inactivity in our communities and support our children and young people to lead healthy and happy lives. We want our facilities to be viewed as community hubs and welcome any opportunity to engage more with the wider community.”
The Beacon coordinators will participate in varied interactive sessions to learn how to deliver community projects with the biggest impact, which will be supported by sessions from organisations including Activity Alliance, England Athletics, Get Set partner UK Anti-Doping and from campaign partner ukactive. It is hoped that by building sustainable relationship between schools and venues, the Beacons campaign will help create active networks that will benefit children and communities for years to come.
Jack Shakespeare, Head of ukactive Kids, said:
“Physical activity has a huge role to play in tackling some of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. From addressing social isolation to childhood obesity, physical activity is the golden thread which can improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our communities.
“Get Set Beacons is a fantastic example of harnessing the true power of physical activity. ukactive is delighted to be working with Team GB and ParalympicsGB to develop long-lasting relationships between community leisure centres and schools to give children and young people better access to a range of fun activities.”
The event on Thursday 27 September also includes special guests, Paralympians Lora Fachie MBE and Susie Rodgers MBE.
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association, said:
“Get Set plays a vital role in demonstrating the power of sport to inspire young people to make positive choices in their lives. It is fitting that the exciting new Get Set Beacons campaign is being launched a decade after the partnership was created to help deliver the London 2012 legacy in schools across the UK.
“The initiative has achieved some incredible milestones in its first ten years and I look forward to it continuing to make a real difference for many years to come.”
Our team presented on Sainsbury's Active Kids Inclusive PE Training programme. Providing a high quality PE curriculum for all young people, this unique initiative aims to ensure the inclusion of young disabled people in PE and school sport within mainstream schools by training PE teachers, school staff and trainee teachers throughout the UK. The new interactive resources have been specially designed to complement the face-to- face workshop and provide information to enable continued professional development. Visit the Inclusive PE portal here.
