The Reconnect Sport and Activities Award

For a group or organisation that has helped children and young people reconnect to sports and outdoor activities.

Won by Your Leisure Kent Ltd.

Warren Reeves, Emma James, Sarah Johnson and Elaine Wadden receiving the Reconnect Sport and Activities Award on behalf of Your Leisure.

Warren Reeves, Sarah Johnson, Emma James and Elaine Wadden receiving the Reconnect Sport and Activities Award on behalf of Your Leisure.

This award recognises the commitment Your Leisure Kent Ltd. have made to getting children back into sports and learning new skills after the pandemic.

Your Leisure have been heavily involved in the Reconnect programme over the past 2 years, putting on free swim camps in the summer and autumn of 2021, and offering Reconnect leisure centre passes. Thanks to this, they have enabled families in Kent to have access to all parts of the organisation, including the gym, group exercise, sports hall activities and swimming enabling as many children and young people to lead active lifestyles with friends and family as possible.

During 2021 they supported Thanet Swim club and took over the management of the Blue Wave hydrotherapy pool to set up a new swim school, which allowed an additional 442 children to enter into the learn to swim programme.

Their work with the Next Gen coaching programme, supported by Street Games and Active Kent and Medway, enabled young people to gain access to skills, experience and training. This helped them gain employment in the industry, which is particularly important in the Thanet district where youth unemployment is high and health inequalities are still prevalent. They have also been working with Education Business Partnership across Thanet to give advice and guidance to all secondary schools around different roles and career pathways within leisure, fitness and health.

Using funding from the National Grid, Your Leisure were the delivery partner for StreetGames, supporting the Network Rail ‘You vs. Train’ campaign. You vs. Train is a national campaign which aims to raise awareness about the dangers of trespassing on the railway through engaging young people in community sports activities.

In May 2022, Your Leisure, in conjunction with the Tim Henman Foundation and with funding from the Co-Op and support from Morrisons, put on a free tennis festival for local schools in Deal. Funding also paid for equipment they could keep: a tennis racket, set of tennis balls, t-shirt and certificate.

Your Leisure continues to look for opportunities through partnerships, funding and programming to support children and young people to lead happier, healthier lives helping them to engage positively with fun, interesting worthwhile opportunities.