More Leisure Community Trust has been extremely successful in gaining funding to drive key initiatives as part of their objectives.
More Leisure Community Trust (MLCT) has been extremely successful in gaining funding to drive key initiatives as part of their objectives. In addition to securing funding for MLCT facilities, More Leisure works with Delivery Partner Serco Leisure to secure funding for facilities which share Serco as a delivery partner.
Funding comes from a variety of funders including the Government Funded Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Scheme, Sport England, Swim England, Active Partnerships, and Neighbourhood Network Schemes.
Funding centres around priority groups highlighted by Sport England, these are typically those people who have lower activity levels, and priority groups/areas as highlighted by the Local Authority, these are often geographical areas and groups of residents identified of a more local basis as having lower activity levels.
Priority areas for which funding is applied for include:
• People of all ages living in financially deprived areas (IMD 1-3)
• People of all ages with disabilities and health conditions, including mental health
• Children
• Young people
• Older people
• Women and girls
• Multicultural communities
Funded projects may address the cost of activities, the provisions of specific activities or both. The overarching aim of every application is to enable people to participate in an activity to improve their wellbeing in a fun, friendly and supportive environment.
Examples of funded Projects:
Volunteering Project - Basingstoke Aquadrome, Stoke Mandeville Stadium and Leys Pools and Leisure Centre in Oxford
Project aims: to increase volunteering and increase activity in those who may not otherwise take part in activity.
Funded by Sport England, this project enabled those people who felt they needed support to come to the gym or have a swim by attending with an ‘Activity Buddy’. Participants paid a much-reduced rate and Buddies exercised with the participant for free; in addition, as a thank you for helping someone out, Buddies received a free activity voucher to use whenever they liked.
This project was kept flexible to reflect the needs of the participants, for example, enabling them to come whenever the facilities were open, to have different buddies and even to buddy each other.
This project had a number of standout successes where participants became increasingly confident in the Leisure Centres and with members of staff as time progressed - resulting in some becoming full members.
We found that while people preferred to have someone they knew as a buddy, there were many members who were willing to be a buddy for someone who needed one – this speaks volumes about how people feel about their leisure centre and the welcoming, friendly culture we aim to create.
Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Schemes – Multiple Contracts
HAF Schemes provide activities and a meal for children in receipt of Free School Meals during the school holidays. Funded by the UK Government, Local Authorities allocate funds to activity providers.
During 2023, nearly 21,000 places were filled with children attending HAF schemes across leisure centres where Serco Leisure was the Delivery Partner. These sessions consisted of indoor and outdoor sports and games, swimming, cycling, crafts and learning about healthy eating.
Breakfast Clubs - Birmingham
Through relationships between More Leisure Community Trust and Swim England we were able to facilitate Breakfast Clubs being set up in Birmingham. Funded by Swim England, the Breakfast Clubs provided underprivileged children with a before-school swimming lessons and a healthy and nutritious breakfast. Initial funding enabled four sites to run Breakfast Clubs to a resounding success, with children not only learning the life-skill of swimming but being ready to learn – something noticed by their teachers.
Community Outreach – Mansfield
Within the Active Communities Fund, the Community and Wellbeing Team provide a number of outreach activities in different locations across Mansfield. These include seated yoga, health walks and treasure hunts which take place in the school holidays. The outreach team also provides ‘have a go’ sessions at the numerous Summer Fayres across Mansfield.
Most recently the team have provided introductory gym sessions for mothers who have children at a local school; these sessions took place in small groups to help the participants become comfortable in the gym. Borne out of discussions that the participants wanted to try the gym, but were anxious about attending, they addressed the real-life needs of the community.
Disability Sports – Stoke Mandeville Stadium, Stoke Mandeville
Funding for Stoke Mandeville Stadium was secured from the Sports Council Trust Company for staffing and equipment for disability sports.
Shrewsbury Sports Village - Social Prescribing - older children with well controlled asthma
Working with Shropshire Community Leisure Trust, with funding from the ‘Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin CCG - Together Fund’ a socially prescribed scheme for older children with asthma took place. The contract’s Community Activator worked closely with the regional NHS asthma team to determine the criteria for participants to ensure that participants were suitable for the scheme, which aimed to help participants self-manage their asthma through increased activity.
Shrewsbury Sports Village - Term time 'HAF' for children 14+
Working with Shropshire Community Leisure Trust, with funding from Sport England’s Queens Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund term time activities for children aged 14+ took place. The children came from the nearly secondary school, with the activities being free for those children eligible for Free School Meals.
“Get Started” Course – Holme Pierrepont at the National Watersports Centre
Funded by the Princes Trust, the “Get Started” course took place in Summer 2023; the course supported underprivileged and unemployed young people aged 16-25 enabling them to develop new skills and gain new qualifications.
Older people’s activities – Billesley, Birmingham
Funded by the Sport England Small Grants Fund, this project provided activities for older people in Billesley, Birmingham. With eight different session types per week, the 48-week long project provided 140 spaces per week – 6,720 over the whole project.
Mental and physical health for ladies 18-49 – Ladywood, Birmingham
Working with Birmingham Community Leisure Trust, funding was secured from the Ladywood Neighbourhood Network Scheme to deliver mental and physical health sessions for women. Sessions were delivered by "Discussing Mental Health" a mental health service in the UK, whose aim is to create a safe environment free from judgment and discrimination to enable individuals to heal themselves through talking therapy in the process of speaking up about their lived experiences with mental health. The sessions consisted of a mental health session for women followed by a gym session.
Verses Arthritis Sessions - Birmingham
Working with Birmingham Community Leisure Trust and Verses Arthritis, Neighbourhood Network Scheme funding was secured to provide sessions for people with arthritis. This included four weekly activity sessions and a self-help and advice session run by Verses Arthritis volunteers