Edinburgh Leisure had a summer of fun for families

Thanks to funding from The City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Leisure were able to bring back a summer of fun safely to their venues across this city and supported 126 children and families living on low incomes to get active and enjoy the summer. 

The Scottish Government released funding to local authorities across Scotland to help address the negative impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland. The priority for this funding was to provide opportunities that allowed children and young people to socialise and reconnect with peers, get active and most importantly have fun, during the summer. 

Edinburgh Leisure offered parents or guardians, living on a low income and wanted their child to have the opportunity to take part in fun, engaging and exciting sports this summer to apply for funded places.  

Spaces were available on Edinburgh Leisure’s swimming, gymnastics, dance, and tennis programmes, with no cost to the family applying. The coaching programmes took place in a variety of venues across the city, at various dates, with some one-day sessions and some full-week activity programmes. 

Edinburgh Leisure also offered 320 spaces for families to attend their AquaDash Extreme and Clip n Climb sessions. 

Families who were eligible for the programme included children who receive school uniform and meal grants, care experienced children, young carers, children whose families are in receipt of Universal Credit and children supported by a child’s plan. 

Tommy George, Community Development Manager at Edinburgh Leisure said: “For many families, finances are really tight and getting involved in activities during the holidays can be prohibitive due to cost. 

“Thanks to funding from the City of Edinburgh Council, however, we were able to support families living on low incomes to ‘Get Into Summer’ by getting active, learn key skills, build confidence and esteem, as well as having fun, in a safe environment.”

Edinburgh Leisure also provided a free football programme for young people from S1 to S6 to take part in and a weekly free ‘Sport on the Beach’ session at Portobello for primary school-aged children.