TO mark the start of this summer's school holidays, the Shape Up Notts! campaign has joined forces with local authorities to give residents of Mansfield and Ashfield the chance to swim for free this weekend.
It is often hard for parents to find activities that will occupy their children during the six-week holiday, and it is especially hard to continually come up with activities that are good for their health.
The fee swim promotion aims to remind pe
ople of all ages that their local swimming pools are a healthy, family friendly resource, which represents an excellent alternative to sitting in front of the television or visiting a fast food restaurant.
And an hour's swim, even at a leisurely pace, can burn anything from 350 to 700 calories –– making it ideal for people who are trying to lose weight and a great way for active kids to burn off all that excess energy.
Said Sport Nottinghamshire director Simon Starr: "We are really excited to once again be working with our partners in the local authorities and offering everyone in the county another exercise option through the Shape Up Notts! campaign.
"The campaign aims to help people in the county increase the amount of exercise they do to build up to a minimum of three 30-minute sessions each week.
"Whatever amount of sport or physical activity you do each week, we want you to find ways to increase it by 30 minutes. This promotion will hopefully get people back into exercising in the pool.
"Swimming is a fantastic form of exercise that gives your whole body a workout. It is non-weight bearing and therefore great for people who have joint or mobility problems."
An estimated 5,000 people are expected to take advantage of the special offer at Water Meadows and Meden over the weekend and to ensure as many people as possible can take advantage of the offer, pool time is being limited to one hour per customer.
At Water Meadows the free sessions in the competition pool start at 8am, with the leisure pool complete with water slides, rapids ride, wave machine and flumes open from 10am, final admission will be at 5pm.
The free swimming at Meden Sports Centre is limited to between 8am and 10am on Saturday and Sunday to avoid disruption to existing swimming lessons.
Said Mansfield mayor Tony Egginton: "The council is really keen to get local people active and involved in regular exercise, especially young people.
"Swimming is not only very good exercise, it can also be a lot of fun. What's more, we are blessed with some fantastic facilities in Mansfield, especially Water Meadows which is one of the best swimming centres in the entire region.
"The free weekend is a tremendous opportunity for people who haven't been swimming in a long time to rediscover how enjoyable it can be."
Leisure centre bosses are warning there may be queues if the pools are at capacity and advise contacting individual leisure centres to check times and details.
Sutton Pools Complex - 01623 457090.
Water Meadows Swimming Complex, Mansfield - 01623 463880 or email watermeadows@mansfield.gov.uk.
Meden Sports Centre, Warsop - 01623 842865 or email MedenSports@mansfield.gov.uk.
Southwell Leisure Centre - 01636 813000 or email southwell@nsdc.info.
Rainworth Leisure Centre - 01623 466266 or email rainworth@nsdc.info.
Dukeries Leisure Centre, New Ollerton - 01623 862469 or email dukeries@nsdc.info.
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