One of the first ‘community sport hubs’ to be developed in Scotland was officially launched today at Calderglen High School in East Kilbride.
This is a new innovative approach to the delivery of community sport. It is aimed at providing more opportunities for communities to engage in an active healthy lifestyle and is a key part of the Scottish Government’s 2014 Games Legacy Plan.
One of the first ‘community sport hubs’ to be developed in Scotland was officially launched today at Calderglen High School in East Kilbride.
This is a new innovative approach to the delivery of community sport. It is aimed at providing more opportunities for communities to engage in an active healthy lifestyle and is a key part of the Scottish Government’s 2014 Games Legacy Plan.
Each hub will focus on the needs of the particular local community, offering clubs and sports groups easier access to sporting facilities. Also providing community volunteers with an opportunity to lead the development of sport and physical activity in the area.
Hubs will be based in local facilities such as sport centres, community centres, schools and / or the natural environment. They will also provide information, support and advice on a wide range of sports and physical activities to make it easier for local people to get involved and engage in a more active and healthier lifestyle.
Community sport hubs are very much a long-term project and sportscotland has allocated an annual budget of £1.5m National Lottery funding to support them up to 2015.
Since the Games Legacy plan was launched last September, sportscotland has been making good progress, working strategically with eight local authority partners including South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, Perth & Kinross, East Lothian, Orkney, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow and Highland, with the aim of delivering a hub in each area by spring 2011.
At Calderglen, five clubs and sports are already involved; with a further six groups already expressing an interest in becoming part of it. Local football, athletics, dance, trampolining and gymnastics clubs will all have access to the school’s superb sporting and recreational facilities. Facilities include two grass pitches, a floodlit 3G pitch, dance studio, a games hall and three gym halls.
Calderglen and the other seven initial hubs will provide sportscotland and its partners with invaluable knowledge and understanding to shape the continual development of the project, delivering a significant number of hubs by 2012 and benefitting thousands of people across Scotland.
Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health and Sport said:
“Having the right sports facilities available in the right places is a critical part of delivering the Scottish Government’s ambitions to get Scotland active. That is why I am so delighted to be here at the start of the roll out of the Community Sports Hub project.
“The hub at Caldergen is an excellent example of providing the local community with a place to come together, get active and have fun. We are going to be introducing Community Sports Hubs across Scotland as part of our Games Legacy Plan for Scotland, this will ensure we are making the best use of our facilities and give local communities more opportunities to participate in sport.
“With Glasgow 2014 on the horizon everyone can be inspired by the spirit and excitement of the games. We want Scots of all ages, backgrounds, shapes and sizes to get more active and get more out of life, which in turn will deliver a lasting legacy that Scotland can be truly proud of.”
Louise Martin CBE, Chair of sportscotland said:
“Today marks the start of the community sports hub project and I am delighted that we have launched this hub at Calderglen High School. This is just one example of what a Hub can look like, and already we can see that by bringing people together, it will bring huge benefits to sport in the local community.
“We are embarking on a long journey to develop community sport hubs in every local authority in Scotland. I am confident that this will be an exciting and successful project that will ultimately give us the framework for sustainable, community led sport in Scotland.”
