Birmingham’s popular Be Active scheme has been extended to take in new sports in a bid to cash in on Britain’s massive summer of sport.
The city council has added to the free pursuits on offer after feedback suggested the initiative was seen as merely offering swim and gym sessions. There are now more than 50 sports and activities available.
Council health and wellbeing boss Coun Steve Bedser said: “People will enjoy watching the Olympics, European Championships and Wimbledon – but there’s no substitute for participating in sport. Be Active has been a huge success over the last few years and more than 350,000 people have now signed-up to the scheme. But we were aware that many people saw this as merely free gym and swim, so we’ve responded to customer feedback and broadened the scope of the scheme. Now there really is something for everyone.”
The new-look scheme offers tennis, bowls, basketball, fencing, gymnastics, netball, badminton, table tennis, Tai Chi, yoga, boxercise, power plates, cycling, walking and more at leisure centres and parks. It was initially called Gym for Free and was launched in February 2008 in Ladywood.
The initial 95 people who signed up became 7,000 within six months and it was expanded that November.
Anyone interested in taking part in Be Active should attend a local leisure centre with proof of identity to qualify.
