The funding from the SFP Community Initiative will allow Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. to expand their Healthy Heart school visit programme to reach communities within the Highlands that are rural and in hard to reach areas, ensuring that primary school children located in these regions receive the same opportunities as those based in the city of Inverness. The club has already visited 120 schools and has covered over 17,000 miles and this funding will now allow the project to be delivered in 25 additional schools. The programme involves one 90 minute session each week for four weeks with the youngsters being asked to complete a health and fitness diary between sessions which are based around “footworx” (exercise classes to music based on movement patterns placed upon the body during a game of football) and will be delivered using a healthy heart message. Throughout the sessions, which will run over a nine month period, heart rate monitors will be used to track each child’s reaction to exercise compared with when they are resting, as well as maximum and recovery heart rates. These young children will learn about healthy eating and the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs and they will be shown how these can all impact negatively on their health, allowing them to see the benefits of making better life choices as they grow into adulthood. The delivery schedule will also include expansion into the homes of these children through the take home diary and through co-ordination with Active Schools with the organisation of continued football activities to enable a sustainable pathway for the children to remain active. Craig Masterton, Head of Community at ICT Community Development Trust said “This project will, without a doubt, create an awareness in these children of their individual health and of the opportunities that are available to them to improve their wellbeing. It will help them understand how exercise can affect the body in a positive manner, empowering them to make healthy life choices.”
