Posted: Tuesday 08 April 2014

Get Active Lanarkshire is part of a Commonwealth Games Legacy initiative which aims to encourage Lanarkshire residents to increase their physical activity in the run up to and beyond the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

A partnership approach  involving NHS Lanarkshire, Healthy Working Lives, North Lanarkshire Leisure, North Lanarkshire Council,  South Lanarkshire Leisure  & Culture, South Lanarkshire Council is  progressing the key message of getting more people, more active, more often in Lanarkshire by encouraging  as many Lanarkshire residents as possible to think about how they can engage in more physical activity even by a small amount.

Get Active Lanarkshire  aims to promote a wide variety of physical activity opportunities which are available across Lanarkshire; from encouraging residents to  take up a  new sport to going to a class at one of our  leisure centres or by adopting an active lifestyle.

A central aim of Get Active Lanarkshire is to encourage as many Lanarkshire residents/schools/businesses and organisation as possible to sign a pledge and encourage Lanakshire communities to get  more active , more often.

The reasons for tackling physical inactivity are compelling:

• It results in around 2,500 premature deaths in Scotland each year;
• Costs the NHS around £91 million annually and is the second biggest cause of mortality;
• Being active can help prevent and treat more than 20 chronic diseases;
• It is estimated that getting Scotland more active would increase life expectancy by over a year;
•  A physically active workforce can also lead to 27 per cent fewer sick days, an average saving of £135 per employee
• It also reduces workforce injuries and accidents by 25 per cent (Scottish Government, 2014). 

Leisure Facilities

All leisure facilities  are being asked to promote and  support Get Active Lanarkshire by:

• Displaying  the Get Active Lanarkshire pull up banner in a prominent  place within the facility
• Actively encouraging members/customers  to sign the Get Active Lanarkshire pledge.
• Link the Get Active Lanarkshire pledge with Go for Gold pledge being made by members

The pledge  can be completed using the printed pledge flyer (over 16’s) or signposting individuals  to the  Get Active Lanarkshire website where they can complete the pledge online (www.getactivelanarkshire.com)

Sports Development

• Promote the Get Active Lanarkshire pledge within your programmes 
• Promote  the Get Active Lanarkshire pledge to  your clubs and the club organiser/lead can sign on behalf of the club
• Promote Get Active Lanarkshire pledge at events

The pledge  can be completed using the printed pledge flyer (over 16’s) or signposting individuals  to the  Get Active Lanarkshire website where they can complete the pledge online (www.getactivelanarkshire.com)

(*please note that the Active Schools team will be encouraging  Head teachers to  sign the pledge on behalf of the school)

Communication platforms

• Encourage and promote  Get Active Lanarkshire pledge  via  NLL’s  social media platforms
• Include Get Active Lanarkshire logo in  resources
• Link with the  local heroes platform to further raise awareness of Get Active Lanarkshire and promote these good news stories across Lanarkshire

Get Active Lanarkshire Activity week - Queen’s Baton Relay

Get Active Lanarkshire has identified  the week prior to the Queen’s Baton Relay arriving  in Lanarkshire as Get Active Lanarkshire Activity week where all partner organisations will be tasked with high profile  promotion of the Get Active Lanarkshire pledge ( w/b 16 June). Additional resources i.e. t-shirts will be distributed prior to this week to assist you with further promoting the Get Active Lanarkshire pledge.

Good news stories

Get Active Lanarkshire would appreciate  your support in notifying us  of  any innovative/creative ways you plan to actively promote the pledge signing in your facility, via a programme, club or event during the Get Active Lanarkshire activity week or  in the lead up to and beyond  the Commonwealth Games.  We will be using a variety of local media platforms to highlight these activities to further promote the key message of getting more people , more active, more often in Lanarkshire.

Please  follow  Get Active Lanarkshire progress of achieving our   target   of 20,000 pledges  by 23 July, 2014 s  at www.getactivelanarkshire.co.uk.

For further details and   information available   on Get Active Lanarkshire,  please contact:

Lesley Mackay at lesley.mackay@nlleisure.com or call  01236 341968 ext 1245

*All completed Get Active Lanarkshire  pledges  should be returned at the end of each working week to  :

Lesley Mackay, North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, Soutarhouse Depot, 1 Soutarhouse Road, Coatbridge ,ML5 4AA