Maidenhead & Windsor

More than a quarter of adults in the Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough regularly take at least half an hour of moderate exercise at least three times a week - putting Windsor and Maidenhead firmly in the lead among Berkshire local authorities as well as 14th in the country.

The Windsor and Maidenhead borough's figure of 26.4% of participating adults is well above the national participation average of 21% - but it's not just the grown-ups who are keen on exercise. More than 91% of five-to-15-year-olds regularly enjoy a minimum of two hours a week of sporting activity, compared with the national average of 85%.

These are just two of the successes reported to the children's services and leisure overview and scrutiny panel on Tuesday (October 2) in an update of community participation in a variety of popular activity programmes.

Highlighted for special mention are:

* The SMILE programme (So Much Improvement with a Little Exercise) – now in its fourth year and regularly attracting more than 500 users every week at 35 different sessions.
* The 13-19 programme – also in its fourth year, and with more than 27,000 young people taking part in this summer's activities, which ranged from athletics and sailing to cycling proficiency, football and skateboarding. The borough's community wardens and the police reported an 18% drop in the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour during the summer months compared with the same period in 2006.
* The GP referral scheme – all local surgeries now regularly refer patients to the borough's three leisure centres, with more than 300 people referred during the past 12 months, mostly suffering from high blood pressure or obesity. More than three quarters of these continue with some form of exercise after their referral period. The scheme also includes specialised services for cardiac rehabilitation at the borough's two main leisure centres with nearly 30 training sessions for THROB (The Heart Rehabilitation Organisation of Berkshire) to help patients continue their healthy lifestyle.
* The under-13s programme – run in the borough for 20 years, more than 7,000 children every week enjoy a range of supervised activities ranging from swimming, netball and football to trampoline, gymnastics and ballet.
* The Get Active programme – targeted at 8–13-year-olds in communities such as Ascot, Datchet, Old Windsor and Eton Wick.

Cllr Christine Bateson, lead member for Windsor and Maidenhead community partnerships, presented the report to the panel and said it was a good new story about the high levels of community participation in the Royal Borough.

She added: 'The figures illustrate very clearly the energy and enthusiasm in our community and are a tremendous reflection of the commitment and hard work of our partner organisations as well as the council's officers.'

Cllr Jesse Grey, lead member for Windsor and Maidenhead leisure and cultural services, said: 'It is very encouraging to see so many people of all ages taking part in regular exercise and activity. These figures put the Royal Borough at the top of the scale of all the Berkshire authorities for adult participation, as well as above the national average.

'This achievement is a real reflection of all the hard work put into these activity schemes by a great many people, and we are delighted to be able to commit to continue to support such worthwhile schemes.'

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead