The Triathlon Trust hosted 57 children in Handsworth, Birmingham for its first ever New Year Camp to help them stay active during the holidays.
Fuelled by food provided by the Central England Coop, children aged 6-14 were invited to the five-day camp to take part in various swim, bike and run sessions and to learn about healthy living.
Provided with a nutritious breakfast and lunch each day, local children took part in running games, bike sessions and a mini aquathlon and triathlon during the week, whilst also learning about the benefits of an active lifestyle and healthy eating.
The camp at Handsworth Leisure Centre was supported by a team of volunteers from GO TRI, the Triathlon Trust, Sport Birmingham, Diamond Academy FC and Central England Coop, all of whom gave their time over the Christmas and New Year period to help deliver the sessions.
The camp was delivered in partnership with GO TRI which is British Triathlon’s entry-level programme. For British Triathlon and Triathlon England developing the provision and participation of swim, bike, run activities for children and young people is a major focus moving forwards and they hope to use the learning from this work, amongst others, to develop and deliver a new framework for children and young people’s engagement in swim, bike and run activity.
The Triathlon Trust are a charity that use the sport of triathlon to inspire children to lead active and healthy lifestyles. They work across Britain to bring fun and inclusive experiences of multisport to children and families.
Mike Jubb, Triathlon Trust CEO, said: “It’s been an amazing week, with more than 50 children getting involved with the activities and learning about their health and wellbeing. The progression of different children throughout the week and the smiles on their faces was simply fantastic, some of the children hadn’t even swum before but joined in and took part in the aquathlon and triathlon races at the end of the week.
“A massive thank you to Central Coop England for providing food for the meals as the children learned about healthy eating and nutrition, as well as the volunteers who made the week possible by giving up their time to cook, set up and run activities and give the kids a great time.”
Helen Marney, British Triathlon’s Director of Development, said: “It was great to see so many children and young people getting to experience the disciplines of triathlon for the first time. The New Year camp was a fantastic example of the collaboration across the Triathlon Trust, GO TRI and the British Triathlon regional team. I’m really pleased to hear that the children and young people enjoyed getting active and enjoying triathlon and I hope that they continue in the sport in the future.”
James Grinsted, Senior Partnerships Manager at Sport Birmingham, said: “Children and young people are a key focus for our work and one of our key aims is to ensure that young people have access to high quality opportunities that encourage regular participation in physical activity. We hope that this camp will be the start for these children and encourage them to continue taking part in triathlon activities and being active.”
James Knight, Membership and Community Relations Officer for the Western region at Central England Co-op, said: “We have worked closely with the Triathlon Trust on some excellent projects in the past and were delighted to support this fantastic holiday camp project which has given youngsters in Birmingham a fun, active and educational experience during their school holidays.
“Our Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) donated healthy food for the participants during the four days, while MCC members also gave up their time to volunteer to support the event and join myself in delivering educational workshops to educate the children about making healthy choices.”
