School pupils in Fife are being given the chance to participate in a range of community sports thanks to a partnership between Active Fife and Levenmouth Rail Link project.
Delivered through Community Sports Hubs, the project will offer the young people the chance to work with local coaches across four different sports to improve physical activity and to learn more about safety around the railway.
Joe Mulvenna, Network Rail’s project manager for the delivery of the Levenmouth Rail Link project said: “Encouraging young people to be more active, and to get a better understanding of the potential hazards of the railway is crucial, particularly for a community that hasn’t had trains running on the line for almost 60 years.
“We look forward to working with Active Fife and the Community Sports Hubs in the delivery of this multi-pronged approach to physical activity, health and wellbeing and rail safety.”
The sport hub partners; Buckhaven Bowling Club; Enigma Gymnastics; East Fife Community Football Club and Glenrothes Rugby Football Club will work with pupils from P1 to S1 over a two-year period to encourage participation in sport, promote physical activity and well-being and to offer a path-way to any of the kids who want to progress in a particular sport.
The project will run over two academic years, 2022 – 23 and 2023-24 and the sports hub partners will twice deliver a 24-week multisport initiative in four six-week blocks in East Wemyss, Buckhaven, Leven and Kennoway.
The new Levenmouth Rail link is set to open in Spring 2024 and will bring many benefits to Leven and the surrounding communities. Initiatives such as the Sports Hub project will help highlight some of the risks a railway brings – particularly to the generations that have grown up in the area used to walking, cycling and playing on the formerly disused line.
The first step in the delivery of the project was to train the coaches involved to confidently deliver the key safety messages to the participants. The delivery of the first block of sports coaching with the local young people is now underway.
As well as working with the kids themselves, the initiative will widen its reach to encourage family participation in sport and physical activity and to promote self-confidence, positive mental health and wellbeing and social connectedness.
With the arrival of the railway and the educational, leisure and social opportunities it will bring, the wider goal is to support activities which will help to create a safer, more vibrant and connected Levenmouth community.
Callum Reston, Fife Active Schools coordinator said: “We have developed this initiative with the Rail Link project to offer the young people of Levenmouth a positive way to improve their physical and mental health and to equip themselves with knowledge that will help keep them safe around the railway.
“The railway will bring lots of change to the local area and we want to help make sure that all parts of the community feel better connected and are better placed to take advantage of what opportunities the new train services will bring.
“It’s exciting that the project is now getting underway and Active Fife and our community sports hub partners are looking forward to seeing the benefits this activity brings to our young people and the wider Levenmouth area.”
Image and video credit: Network Rail
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