18 April 2007

Minister to Launch Upper Hutt Active Recreation

The Minister for Sport and Recreation Trevor Mallard, will launch Activation in Upper Hutt this evening.

Activation is the project that will implement Upper Hutt’s active recreation plan, the Upper Hutt City Council led initiative designed to get more people in the community more active, more often. The initiative has been in the planning for over 18 months and has involved many different groups and organisations to get it to this point.

The Activation team will work in the community to support sports clubs, schools and active recreation groups to enhance opportunities to be active, assisting with the development and delivery of events and programmes as well as providing advice and advocating for physical activity opportunities and sport.

The team will be based at the New Zealand International Campus (formerly known as the Central Institute of Technology, CIT) who is supporting the project.

Mayor Wayne Guppy says “this is a fantastic opportunity for our community to rise up and take leisure, sport and recreation to a new level. We are lucky to have wonderful parks and open spaces. Now we have the means to start developing the people and programmes to see that they are utilised.”

The project has been given a major boost with funding support by SPARC, Sport Wellington Region and Youthtown.

SPARC is the government agency charged with promoting, encouraging and supporting sport and physical recreation in New Zealand. The investment is aimed at both increasing participation in active leisure, sport and recreation, as well as assisting the development and capability of clubs, schools and groups involved in this sector of the community.

“Active Communities Investment is about taking an innovative approach to addressing identified physical activity needs collaboratively,” said Debbie Curgenven, Senior Advisor, Active Living for SPARC. “The lessons learned from this project will be shared nationally with other stakeholders and will provide a valuable platform from which to build further our evidence base of how to encourage and sustain people of all ages in physical activity.”

Sport Wellington Region who already provides active recreation assistance throughout the region is excited by the opportunities this team can bring to the Upper Hutt community. Paul Cameron, Chief Executive of Sport Wellington Region says “it will make a huge difference having people based in Upper Hutt delivering services within the community; we are right behind this initiative”.

Youthtown as the fourth partner is an Auckland-based not-for-profit organisation that helps young people express themselves, develop skills and build self esteem, in safe, open and stimulating environments. Programmes will be delivered from a range of existing local facilities. Youthtown is to recruit a fulltime local staff member to work alongside the Activation team. They will spend a brief period training with the organisations team in Auckland.

“We are certainly excited at the thought of commencing services in Upper Hutt. We believe the Youthtown model will work very effectively there,” says the organisations Executive Director, Keith Thorpe.

Mayor Guppy congratulates SPARC, Sport Wellington Region and Youthtown for their involvement and believes the investment will help create opportunities for everyone in the community to get physically involved and become more active in their lives.

Mayor Guppy, a keen sportsman in his day and an active daily exerciser says, “We can look forward to a fitter, healthier and more involved community” as a result of this initiative.

ENDS

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