Grays Judo
Fitter - Stronger - Together (Family Fitness)
Tessa Sanderson Foundation - Grays Judo Club provide a safe and inspiring environment where children and their families can achieve a healthier lifestyle by taking part in physical activity on a regular basis, whilst also learning new skills.
The family fitness session is coach-lead for parents/carers and children to play team games and take part in simple fitness exercises suitable for all ages. Following Family Fitness, the club organise a judo training session for those who want to continue exploring the new sport.
Grays Judo Club found that parents were struggling to find sufficient time and resources to get active and were forced to juggle or choose between children’s activities and their own engagements. This project provided the family with the opportunity to do physical activity together.
The project has offered families valuable and quality time together to get moving. Parents/carers have commented that it has also helped pass on important values such as fair play and commitment skills.
Through Find Your Active funding, the club were able to cover hall hire, additional judo suits and cover the cost of participants’ first three gradings, to remove the financial cost of getting active. In turn this has ensure the young people can become well established in their judo pathway and are more likely to continue being involved in the sport.
The greatest barrier identified by Grays Judo Club, were that adults were more likely to be tired after a day of work, or busy in the evenings so occasionally whole families stayed at home. However, many families reported that children and parents encouraged each other to attend and as this is an activity that they can do together, they did not want to let each other down. The family sessions provide a great opportunity to showcase the importance of parents/carers leading by example when getting active, to ensure every child leads an active and healthy lifestyle.
