Fife Council Leader Alex Rowley and Provost of Fife Jim Leishman dropped by Lochore Meadows Country Park yesterday (Monday) to announce a new initiative which will put Fife’s community based sport and leisure groups at the heart of the Council’s drive to expand sport and leisure opportunities across the Kingdom.

A group of children taking part in the summer outdoor activity programme helped launch the plan which encourages sport and leisure clubs, groups and commercial businesses to have more of a say in how the Council supports and funds sport & leisure in the community.

Speaking at the launch Fife Council Leader Alex Rowley said: “Today we are asking people, clubs and groups to sign up to become part of a new drive to increase the opportunities and levels of sport and leisure activity in every community across Fife. There are hundreds of local people giving up their time on a regular basis to support thousands of people take part in sport and leisure. I want to do more to help them not just sustain current activity but to bring about massive increase in local activity.”

Mr Rowley said the new initiative is a key plank of the new administrations approach to tackling the big issues around health and wellbeing. He said: “Whether you are a local club doing football, tae kwon do, badminton, through to athletics, swimming or a bowling club, walking group, whatever the sport or leisure activity, we want to hear from you as we consider what Fife needs in terms of facilities and funding and staffing for the future.

“An important first step in taking this forward is to promote free sign up to an online database of sport and leisure activities. A simplified and improved sign up process for community groups and organisations mean that a much wider range of club and group activity can be represented on Fife Direct – Fife’s community website delivered by the Council.”

Free sign up is available at www.fifedirect.org.uk/joinourclub and those that take part will help Fife Direct to offer customers a much truer picture of the range of sport and leisure activities that are on offer across Fife.

Provost of Fife Jim Leishman added: “There is a wide range of activity on offer for young people but it is provided by so many different organisations, groups, clubs and volunteers. We’d like to try and capture this better so we can help young people and indeed anyone find out what is on offer in their area.

“As I travel round Fife and meet local groups I find there is a wealth of ideas and views about how we can do things and target our resources better. In September, during the Festival of Sport we will be asking hundreds of groups and individuals how best we can bring sport and leisure to Fife’s communities. By signing up online, you will ensure you have a say in that consultation and help us shape our future plans for sport and leisure in Fife along with the clubs and groups with which we already have established links.

“There are hundreds of unsung heroes in our local communities who work with young people every week. There are the likes of bowling clubs and fitness groups who give people of all ages the chance to stay active - we want to engage with all of these people to expand access to sport and leisure activity across Fife. With the nation in the midst of Olympic fever this is the perfect time to launch the project.”

Mr Rowley concluded: “We will be producing a new sports strategy for Fife and I hope everyone with an interest will be involved in this. We also intend to audit the levels of physical activity going on in all of our schools and bring about much closer links between the schools and the community and ensure the resources we have are being put to best use.”

Providers of sport and leisure activities can sign up now at www.fifedirect.org.uk/joinourclub - there is no restriction on the type of sport and leisure providers that can apply for a listing!

For more information on how Fife Council’s Active Fife team supports and funds sport, visit www.fifedirect.org.uk/activefife or contact the Sports Development team on 01383 602393.