Council physical activity programme gets over 1,900 children and adults active

More than 1,900 people from across the Fermanagh and Omagh district have benefitted from a recent programme offering new opportunities to get active in local communities.

The programme – delivered by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, with funding received from Sport NI through the Department for Communities (DfC), from January to March 2024 – enabled children, young people and adults across the district to take part in a range of free activities and get active.

Activities included archery, badminton, basketball, boccia, boxercise, canoeing, chair-based exercise, circuits, cricket, dance, football, gymnastics, handball, multisport, old-time dance, sailing, volleyball and yoga within community settings and netball, pickleball and swimming at Council leisure centres.

Speaking about the free activity programme, Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor John McClaughry said:

“The Council is committed to improving the lives and wellbeing of our communities. I am so pleased the Council was able to provide such a variety of activities enabling people of all ages and abilities across the district to get active, learn new skills, make new friends, and have fun.

Programmes such as this make a positive difference to the lives of our residents and I would like to thank the Department for Communities and Sport NI for providing the funding to enable the Council to arrange such a wide and varied activity programme across the district.”

To stay healthy, adults (aged 19 to 64) and children (aged 5-18) should try to be physically active every day. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines advise adults to do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity per week, which is about 20–30 minutes of physical activity a day, and children to aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day.

Richard Archibald, Interim CEO at Sport NI said:

“We were delighted to partner with Fermanagh & Omagh District Council to give residents of all ages the opportunity to get active and try out new sports.

Through our District Council Community Planning Investment, we’re working to encourage communities to get involved in sport and physical activity and this free activity programme has been a huge success.

At Sport NI we believe in the power of sport to change lives and with over 1,000 people taking part in the programme, we’re encouraged to see so many people availing of this opportunity and the positive impact it has had on both their physical and mental wellbeing.”