Fife leisure centre staff go online support hundreds of Fifers in lockdown
Fife Sports & Leisure Trust has created an outreach programme to help people who can no longer get to classes at its network of centres across the region.
Its health and wellbeing programme is aimed at people living with conditions such as s cancer, dementia, diabetes and heart problems.
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Hide AdWith their usual classes curtailed because of lockdown restrictions, trust staff are reaching out to over 200 contacts made per week.
They are making contact via socially distanced one-to-one outdoor walks, Zoom, social media, phone calls or emails.
Participants have been issued with their own exercise bands which were purchased with funds raised by the trust’s own charity, the Fife Health and Wellbeing Fund.
Fiona Prendergast, health and wellbeing programming manager, said: “The people who attend our health and wellbeing programme tend to be older adults who have been referred to the classes by their GP or hospital-based clinician.
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Hide Ad“The programme has a proven track record of alleviating participant’s symptoms as a direct result of taking part in supervised, specially-designed physical activity sessions.
“But, it’s just not about physical results, participants regularly report that they experience mental wellbeing benefits because of the interaction with others who are experiencing similar situations.
“We are very grateful to people who have contributed to our Fife Health and Wellbeing Fund as this has helped us deliver the outreach programme and maintain contact with this very important user group.”