North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has cut the ribbon to open the Just for Fun Holiday Club in Stratton St Margaret.
The club is located at the Grange Drive Community Centre, and will be open throughout the summer holidays to all children aged between 4 and 11 years old. Each day’s session is planned carefully by the group’s leaders, Sean & Mike, and is designed to boost physical activity by creating a friendly environment to enjoy sport.
Following his promotion of the club at his second annual Summer Activities Fair at the Orbital Shopping Park, Justin was keen to come along and visit the club on their first day. The club will operate throughout the holiday, putting on activities from football to dodgeball, running to athletics.
The North Swindon MP, who has backed using money from the soft-drinks levy (aka ‘sugar tax’) to open school and community sports facilities for free to local children during the summer holidays and in the evening after school, has made childhood obesity a major campaign priority to tackle in his role as MP in recent years.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Local residents will know that among the campaigns that I’ve led on in Parliament in recent years, tackling childhood obesity and getting the nation more active has featured prominently. This has extended from calling for additional funding to keep school sports facilities open during evenings and summer holidays to be used for physical activity. The Just for Fun Holiday Club is a great opportunity not just for kids in Stratton but right across North Swindon to stay active through the summer and tackle obesity in children locally.”
Justin was accompanied on the visit by Szymon Wisniewski, who has joined the North Swindon MP for Work Experience. He wrote the following account of the visit:
“Monday morning saw local MP Justin Tomlinson pay a visit to the grand opening of a new kids’ summer sports camp, Just for Fun, at Grange Drive Leisure Centre.
The day may have been overcast but that did nothing to dampen the spirits of all those involved, with both children and coaches in a jovial mood. We arrived just in time for an opening round of dodgeball, with head coach Sean Harper organising the proceedings.
Justin then congratulated Sean on the sizeable turnout for the opening day. The level to which Justin is engaged within his community surprised me; it is also a good indication of his degree of involvement in tackling childhood obesity.
All in all, the visit was a productive one, not only for the new Just for Fun camp, but also for me, being able to accompany my local MP and see first-hand the support he provides for the local area.”
