Overview
As part of its commitment to encourage young people to become more active, Sainsbury's TOP Activity is an exciting programme, offering alternative out-of-school hours activities to 7 to 11 year olds. It is designed to reach those young people who might not be accessing physical activity through traditional routes, to help increase their participation in sport and exercise.
The programme comprises training, resources and equipment and the activities are grouped under four exciting themes:
Xpress Yourself
e.g. dance, jive, salsa, cheerleading, martial fitness
Xercise Highs
e.g. skipping, hula, oppy relays, wake ‘n’ shake, circuits
Xtra Time
e.g. small-sided games, parachute, Frisbee
Xtreme Challenges
e.g. circus moves, tri-golf, rock-it-ball
Sainsbury's TOP Activity has been running in such diverse sites as an Afro-Caribbean club in Gloucestershire, summer Whizz Kids scheme in Haringey, Brownie and Scout groups in Nottinghamshire and N. Ireland respectively and as part of outreach work led by Sports Development in Scotland.
Achievements and aims
2008/2009
Sainsbury's TOP Activity will target and work with a further 500 sites across the UK, providing training and resources to increase physical activity levels amongst those hard to reach young people.
2007/2008
The programme was rolled out supporting and working with 500 sites across the UK. Training and resources were provided to School Sports Partnerships and other agencies to increase the physical activity levels of 7-11 year olds. Through its flexible approach, Sainsbury's TOP Activity was delivered through more alternative means using young leaders as role models and delivers, implementing Sainsbury's TOP Activity into family centers and youth clubs and working with black & ethnic minority groups to help overcome the barriers faced to participation.
TOP Activity
For those sites who have already received Sainsbury's TOP Activity training, resource top-ups are available to order from YSTdirect.
Back to TOP Programmes
Related link:
Sainsbury's Active Kids (YST pages)
Sainsbury’s Active Kids (Sainsbury's website)
Sainsbury’s Top Activity as part of the MEND programme
The Youth Sport Trust is encouraging local parents who want to improve their families' health to sign up to their nearest Mind, Exercise, Nutrition... Do it! (MEND) programme, several of which are running free of charge at a number of locations around the country from the beginning of May.
Twice a week for ten weeks, parents and children will take part in fun activities learning about healthy eating, and taking part in fun exercise activities, including activities which can be as diverse as cheerleading, martial fitness and circus skills, as well as fun games.
The two-hour sessions aim to improve children's fitness, physical activity levels, nutrition and self-esteem. The focus is on simple and effective techniques, which are designed to help improve childrens’ and families’ overall diet and activity patterns.
The activity sessions come from Sainsbury’s TOP Activity, a programme, developed by the Youth Sport Trust, and run by trained exercise leaders from local school sport partnerships. The venues for these MEND programmes are located within school sport partnerships across England.
The nutrition sessions are run by Sainsbury’s Community Food and Health Advisors and their local colleagues and include label reading, understanding a healthy diet, a Food Fest to try new recipe ideas, a healthionnaire quiz and a healthy eating supermarket store tour.
Programmes run each school term and waiting lists are available for the following term. Locations for the new programmes, starting early May (unless otherwise stated) are as follows:
North: Stockton-on-Tees, Wilmslow, Ossett, Sheffield, Dukinfield, Cheadle Heath, Stockport, Huddersfield and Staveley (Chesterfield)
Central: Lutterworth (starts end April), Leicester (starts end April) and Ansley (Loughborough), Mansfield
East: Bury St Edmunds and Lincoln
South: Huntingdon (starts end April), Stevenage, Potton (Beds) (starts April), Peterborough, Wantage, Reading, Wandsworth, Twickenham, Hornchurch, Hamble, Aylesford, Herne Bay and Leatherhead
West: Bath, Lydney (Glos), Cardiff, Taunton, Weston-Super-Mare, Whitleigh (Plymouth), Keynsham (Somerset), and Swindon
Northern Ireland: Belfast and Lisburn (both start April)
To find out how you can take part call: 020 7231 7225 or to register visit: www.mendprogramme.org