Families in Plymouth are being given the chance to enjoy free water sports sessions – thanks to funding from Sport England.
The Making Waves Together project is aimed at families in the St Peter and Waterfront Ward of Plymouth, or for anyone with a child at the Plymouth School of Creative Arts in Millbay.
The project started earlier this year and offers taster sessions for families who want to swim, sail, kayak, stand up paddleboard or surf together.
The project leader is Tors Froud from the Plymouth School of Creative Arts and they are working in partnership with Plymouth Youth Sailing, Mount Batten Watersports and Activities Centre, The Lynher River Barge CIC, Red 22 and the Cornwall Surf Academy- creating a meaningful pathway to water based activities as well as supporting individuals and families and becoming part of social action projects.
The Sport England fund is a key part of their focus on helping young people have an enjoyable experience of sport and physical activity so they develop a positive attitude towards being active at an early age and continue being active later in life. The mission is to encourage families to get active together, because parents and close family members can have a big impact on children’s experiences.
Families can enrol in taster days in one or more of their chosen activities, with all equipment … provided for free.
Sport England research shows that they are also significant role models in helping their children get active – because how a parent behaves impacts what a child sees as important.
Parents who are active themselves and enjoy it, can encourage positive feelings about exercise and its value in their children. Yet many parents lack the skills or confidence to take part in a sport with their children as they fear they cannot keep up.
For example, if adults don’t know how to swim or lack confidence near the sea, this has a knock-on impact on the activities they feel they can do as a family and how much they encourage children to take part.
Families can enrol in taster days in one or more of their chosen activities, with all equipment, including wetsuits, buoyancy aids, and instructors provided for free.
After the taster day, if they enjoy a particular activity, families can have follow up sessions to develop their skills and better their active participation. For water based activities the minimum age is six years old, but activities can be provided for younger ones.
The Plymouth Lifeboat crew have given their support to the project which is also working with Plymouth City Council’s Anti Tombstoning campaign. The Stonehouse Neighbourhood Policing Team are also supporting the project by donning wetsuits and getting splashed by fellow kayakers!
The RNLI, Surf Life Saving GB, Nudge Community, Duke of Edinburgh students and volunteer students from PSCA are also backing the project and it is hoped that a legacy of active healthy salt-water-wet families will act as a catalyst for the hub of our waterside community.
The next free family surfing sessions are taking place on October 28 and November 3. Due to the time of year and the swell size, there is a minimum age of 11 for these family taster days, but dates for younger ages will be provided at a later date.
All equipment, instructors and transport are provided for free. This is a family project, so all family members are encouraged to attend.
The only requirement is that participants can swim.
For more information visit www.makingwavestogether.org.uk
