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Locals get active with street dancing, Tai Chi & tea dances

FROM TODDLERS and teenagers to those who have retired, everyone in Hastings is being encouraged to ‘get active’ by the range of activities on offer across the town all week, every week, from street dancing to tea dances.

The recent Active People survey results showed that only 16.7% of people in hastings are taking part in enough physical activity to benefit their health. This places Hastings at the bottom of the South East in terms of physical activity levels.

Active Hastings is funded by Hastings Borough Council, Hastings Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Sport England Big Lottery Fund. It is one of Sport England’s largest Active England projects, with the target of engaging with 5,100 inactive people over the next three years.

So far, the Active Hastings team is well on the way to meeting that target. Since its launch in May, it has already welcome more than 2,400 people to its sessions, with approximately one in three of those people saying that they had taken part in no physical activity in the last 12 months.

Cath Smee, Active Hastings Coordinator, said, “It only takes 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day to keep you feeling fitter and healthier. Thanks to Active Hastings, there are plenty of opportunities for local people to get active in fun and relaxed atmospheres, from American Football to walks in the park.”

The Active Hastings team runs about 43 sessions per week, with activities ranging from trampolining and street games for 10-16 year olds through to gardening, tea dances, badminton and Tai Chi for post-retirement groups.

One participant at the postretirement dance session said that “the session is superb, it gets me out of the house and keeps me moving”. But it’s not only those in retirement who are benefiting from the work of the Active Hastings team. All adults are being encouraged to ensure that they are “fit to retire”.

The Girls Gettin Active project, which focuses on girls aged 10-16 who typically do not take part in traditional forms of physical activity, is run by young women, for young women. It includes a variety of fun physical activities, such as rollerskating and cheerleading.

It aims to engage with young women who have taken part in very little physical activity since leaving school. Only two months into the programme, the Ladies Gettin Active team have already registered 137 new participants, 61 of whom had not taken part in any form of physical activity in the last year.

Other Active Hastings initiatives include Nutrition Matters, Active Streets, Active at Work, Big Pub Challenge and an exciting new Extreme Sport programme.

• To find out more about sessions in your area, please contact the Active Hastings team on 0845 274 1050 or pick up a copy of the Active Hastings programme at the Hastings Information Centre.