New sporting initiative is launched in Dromore

A brand new initiative aimed at getting people '˜more active more often' was launched recently in Dromore Community Centre
Enjoying the Racketlon event at Dromore Community Centre to celebrate the launch of Every Body 2020 are (l-r): Councillor Mark Baxter, Chair of Leisure and Community Services Committee from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council; Aleksander Bartusik, Table Tennis Ulster; Niall McVeigh, Para-Badminton World & European Champion; Hilda Macbride, Lisburn Racquets; Amber Young, U14 Ulster Tennis Academy player; John News, Participation Manager Sport NI; Nick Rusk Every Body Active 2020 Coach. Picture by Darren Kidd / Press Eye.Enjoying the Racketlon event at Dromore Community Centre to celebrate the launch of Every Body 2020 are (l-r): Councillor Mark Baxter, Chair of Leisure and Community Services Committee from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council; Aleksander Bartusik, Table Tennis Ulster; Niall McVeigh, Para-Badminton World & European Champion; Hilda Macbride, Lisburn Racquets; Amber Young, U14 Ulster Tennis Academy player; John News, Participation Manager Sport NI; Nick Rusk Every Body Active 2020 Coach. Picture by Darren Kidd / Press Eye.
Enjoying the Racketlon event at Dromore Community Centre to celebrate the launch of Every Body 2020 are (l-r): Councillor Mark Baxter, Chair of Leisure and Community Services Committee from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council; Aleksander Bartusik, Table Tennis Ulster; Niall McVeigh, Para-Badminton World & European Champion; Hilda Macbride, Lisburn Racquets; Amber Young, U14 Ulster Tennis Academy player; John News, Participation Manager Sport NI; Nick Rusk Every Body Active 2020 Coach. Picture by Darren Kidd / Press Eye.

‘Every Body Active 2020’ is a Sport Northern Ireland initiative, which aims to increase participation in sport and physical activity within specific groups of people.

These include women and girls, people with a disability, those living in areas of greatest social need, young people leaving education and those retiring from work.

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Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council organised the first event of the project, an exciting Racketlon event – currently one of the world’s fastest growing competitive sports involving badminton, squash, table tennis and tennis – to kick off the Opportunities Strand of the Every Body Active programme and give an example of the wide variety of activities which will be delivered.

Over the next four years, each of the 11 council areas in Northern Ireland will be receiving over £6million of National Lottery funding and will work closely with clubs, schools, and community organisations to engage with these hardest to reach groups to open doors of opportunity.

“Every Body Active 2020 offers an exciting new challenge to Council,” said Councillor Mark Baxter, Chair of Leisure and Community Services Committee from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.

“We hope it will compel people to take a step further on the journey that will ultimately see them change their lifestyle, integrating physical activity into their daily lives and realising the health and wellbeing benefits that this in turn will bring.

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“Through Every Body Active 2020 participants will have the opportunity to exercise either in a sports club environment or within a more informal structure in the parks across the Council area through the highly successful Couch to 5K programmes.”

Interim Chair of Sport Northern Ireland Brian Delaney commented, “Building on the success of programmes such as Active Communities, Every Body Active 2020 will help to ensure that sport and physical activity can make a genuine ‘added value’ contribution to ‘sporting communities’ across Northern Ireland and sustain the legacy of London 2012 as we prepare for Rio 2016.”