Thanks to local people for getting more active 

Our chief executive has welcomed the latest attendance figures to leisure centres across Fife, thanking local people for continuing to support the organisation’s facilities.

The latest attendance figures to our facilities show that more people across Fife are getting more active - the ninth consecutive year local people are choosing to visit leisure centres in increasing numbers.

Figures released for April 2016 to March 2017, show another year-on-year growth for customer visits. With an overall attendance of 2,699,279, up almost 20,000 on last year, the figures show that the organisation is delivering on its commitment to get more people more active more of the time.

Stand-out areas included swimming facilities with an increase of 4% with 1,095,516 visits to swimming pools and usage of outdoor pitches increased by 7%, recording 282,830 attendances. 

Our efforts to engage with target age groups has also been a success - encouragingly, attendances by under 18's has increased by 5% and similarly, over 60s are visiting in greater numbers with an increase of 5% from older adults.

Programmes delivered by us aimed at targeting specific user groups also saw growth. Quitfit, a smoking cessation programme delivered in partnership with NHS Fife which encourages participants to take up regular physical activity as a way to boost long-term healthy lifestyle change, saw a 35% increase. Our concession scheme aimed to help those on lower incomes saw a 22% increase, thanks to efforts to engage with all sectors of local communities, including hard-to-reach groups. And, Daytime Active - a concession scheme to help jobseekers get active as they look to get back into work - saw 298 people take up the offer to use the trust’s facilities.

A health and physical activity programme, funded through investment by us, continued its commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of communities across Fife, particularly those living with long-term health conditions. Active Options 2 saw an increase of 11% attendances - a total of 36,819 attendances by people using the referral-based programme.

Ed Watson, chief executive, said: “As a local charitable trust, we are very aware that people who choose to use our facilities are investing in an organisation which has the wellbeing of local communities at its core - by continuing to perform well, we are able to invest surpluses back into facilities and programmes for everyone’s benefit. I’d like to thank customers for their continued support.

“I am particularly pleased that our teams are putting customer experience at the forefront of what we do, and, increases in swimming and outdoor attendance, the health and wellbeing programme and target user groups - all demonstrate that our ability to offer the best-qualified instructors and quality programmes in Fife, are having an impact on customer numbers.”