"Go for it!" Project
What is the "Go for it" project about?
In the June of 2006 Sense Scotland will launch a new three-year project called "Go for it!" funded by the Active Futures part of the National Lottery. The aim of the project is to provide physical activities with a focus on outdoor activities to 17-24 year olds within the organisation. It should be noted that while the age range is a prescribed part of the project it will not prohibit service users who fall out of this age bracket from participating in the activities provided, we just won't be reporting about them back to the Lottery.
So what is the project going to do?
The stated aims of the project are:
- To encourage young adults with multiple disabilities to be more physically active and to provide the support to enable this
- To improve the physical and mental health of young people with multiple disabilities
- To develop a range of exercise activities
- To develop an outdoor activities programme
- To conduct research into the benefits of outdoor education for people with multiple disabilities
The project will focus on four key areas, leisure, health, personal and social development and environmental understanding. As well as the physical activities in this area links to "wellbeing" will be highlighted such as the importance of eating well, having friends and doing things together for example.
Which area will the Project cover?
The project is national and will cover the whole of Sense Scotland including all regions and all services.
How is the Project staffed?
The project will be led by Joe Gibson based at Head Office and supported by Maureen d'Inverno based at Fife Sensory Centre. Throughout the course of the project we will be also be supporting operations staff to continue and increase the provision of activities and "local champions" will be identified. The project also has two partners, the Glasgow Climbing Centre and The Department of Sport Culture and the Arts from The University of Strathclyde who will be offering support in an advisory capacity.
How will all of this actually affect people using services?
The first part of the project will involve a lot of information gathering and we will be first establishing which of our service users fall within the age range (17-24) and what activities they currently participate in.
Once this base line data has been collected a range of individual and group activities will be offered as by the project team as well as support to operations staff to increase and continue the activities already being undertaken.
How is the project being monitored and evaluated?
Reports and evaluations will be submitted to each service user who participates in the project at the end of each six-week block. There will also be the opportunity for service users and staff to feedback about the project. Certain measurable outcomes will be set where possible, to monitor increased levels of physical activity, health benefits and meeting new people for example. An annual report will also be submitted to the National Lottery as a part of the funding criteria.
How can you make contact with the new Go for It Project?
We will be in contact with all services once the project begins at the beginning of June however if you would like to contact us with any enquiry or for any information around outdoor activities, physical activity, or general healthy living issues our contact details are:
Sense Scotland is grateful to The National Lottery for providing a grant to support the Go for it! project. Any views expressed throughout the project are those of Sense Scotland and not necessarily those of The National Lottery.
In the meantime the outdoor activity co-ordinator can be contacted on:
Arts and WellbeingSense Scotland43 Middlesex Street
Kinning Park
Glasgow G41 1EE
Tel: +44 (0)141 429 0294
Fax: +44 (0)141 429 0295
Text: +44 (0)141 418 7170