Boogle's Keep Active! Campaign

A report by the National Centre for Social Research in 2004 showed that the prevalence of obesity among children in England aged two to 10 rose to 13.7 percent in 2003 from 9.9 percent in 1995.

A Department of Health report then published in August 2006 confirmed the rising trend and predicted a third of adults and a fifth of all children under 15 will be obese by 2010.

In Jan 2008 Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Health, then announced to the House of Commons that with 23 percent of men, 24 percent of women and 18 percent of children clinically obese in 2008, and with no expectation of any spontaneous reversal of obesity trends, those figures will rise to 60 percent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children by 2050.

This is a problem that is not going away and immediate action must be taken for the health of our children. In order to reverse rising obesity levels in this country it is recommended that children get a minimum of 1 hour per day of activity. This covers the activity provided within school PE lessons, after-school activities and playground activities … but recent reports have found that our children do not reach the minimum targets for exercise. The key is to address the problem when they are young with education and encouraging an active lifestyle.

Boogle's Barn has recently launched the Boogle’s Keep Active! Campaign in order to do our bit to provide affordable facilities to encourage a regular active healthy lifestyle in our children. Stephanie Grace, the proprietor of Boogle's Barn said “Active play and healthy eating are two key factors in developing and maintaining our children’s good health and at Boogle's Barn we strive to encourage both.”

The play equipment at Boogle's Barn is specifically designed to give children active play time and regular use of the facilities can produce demonstrable results over a sustained period. The Pitstop Café also provides good healthy food – in particular the children’s Boogle Bags that contain a sandwich, yoghurt, fruit and sugar free drink. Even the chicken nuggets are 100% chicken pieces and the fish fingers are 100% fish so that the popular children’s choices remain healthy.

Over the past few months we have been introducing a number of initiatives at Boogle's Barn under the banner of Keep Active! in order to encourage children to achieve their exercise quota. This has included:

Ø More play equipment to give children a greater variety of active play

Ø More FREE play days to make regular visits more affordable for families – these days are listed in their regular newsletter

Ø Promotional give-aways such as a toy given out with the healthy children’s meals – over the Christmas period they gave out Clics toys, and they are currently giving free Crazy Bone Go-Go’s with children’s meals.

Last December's Children's Plan outlined the government's plans to create new playgrounds and supervised adventure play. Children's secretary Ed Balls confirmed this February that the government is making £225 million available for play facilities in order to tackle the growing problem.

"As parents we all know that having the time, space and opportunity to play freely and safely is one of the defining characteristics of a good childhood," Ed Balls said. Mr Balls continued: "Children need places which allow them to meet their friends and have fun - being able to burn off their energy in unstructured play is an important part of maintaining a healthy weight and life.

This government funding, however, doesn’t extend to indoor play. Play facility providers such as Boogle's Barn do not receive any government support for the service that we provide. Local indoor play centres have to self fund or obtain private company sponsorship. Boogle's Barn itself has therefore invested heavily in the facilities but is continually looking for sponsors to participate in the Boogle’s Keep Active! Campaign to help continue to add facilities and keep the services affordable on a regular basis. To encourage sponsors, one of their pledges is that 100% of proceeds of advertising revenue within the barn will be donated to the campaign.

At the moment Boogle's Barn is in the process of purchasing a Kiddi-Gym, which has a range of gym equipment designed specifically for young children of nursery school age up to Key Stage 2. The plan is to provide this equipment free of charge to nurseries, primary schools and toddler groups (or for groups of friends who would like to book a session), and they are currently looking for local businesses to sponsor one or more pieces of equipment by signing up to a low cost advertising package. If you would like to become a Keep Active!Sponsor then please contact us.

The equipment is supplied by Gymkids and it has the backing of celebrities such as Darren Campbell who says that “not only do I support what Gymkids is trying to achieve, but more importantly I’ve seen the kids on the equipment and they absolutely love it – which in trying to instil healthy habits that will last them a lifetime, is so important for them.”

Boogle's Barn are also launching “Active Days” every Thursday where a range of activities will be introduced over the next few weeks including open Kiddi-Gym sessions. Boogle's Barn are also encouraging new mothers to visit the barn to meet new friends where they will also be able to benefit from toddler membership and other benefits. On selective Active Days there will be organised talks from qualified nursery nurses, who are on hand to answer any questions that new mothers may have. If the days are well supported then other class activities aimed at young children such as Little Piccolos and Diddi-dance will also be introduced. Different suppliers will also be present on selected days to provide offers to parents from books and clothes, to photography sessions and personalised jewellery. In June, the Active Days will be FREE entry days.

Please also do your bit to support us and together we will fight for the fitness of our children.

The Boogle’s Keep Active Campaign is about encouraging our children to stay healthy by getting their recommended levels of regular exercise.

Boogle says “Keep Active!”

Please contact us on 0845 330 1335 or send an electronic enquiry and one of Boogle’s customer service assistants will contact you.

Boogle's Barn Mother and Child Group

If you have any questions or enquiries please do not hesitate to call us :

Telephone 0845 330 1335