Carmarthenshire kids to get free swim sessions

Children and young people in Carmarthenshire will now be able to enjoy free swimming and other leisure centre activities at the weekends.

Alun Davies welcomed changes announced by the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government to extend the scheme and said it encouraged tens of thousands of young people to take regular exercise free of charge.

A change to the minimum criteria of the current scheme, means that local authorities including Carmarthenshire County Council will now offer free swimming sessions or other leisure centre activities for children aged 16 and under on weekends as well as school holidays.

Alun said:

“Free swimming has been an extremely popular policy since it was introduced in 2004 by the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government.

“These changes will make the scheme even more widely available so young people can benefit all year round.

“Free swimming allows youngsters to learn an important skill – especially in a coastal county like Carmarthenshire. Swimming is an enjoyable leisure activity and this new measure will encourage a healthy lifestyle at no extra cost.”

 

Ends

 

Llanelli Star

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  • Students make a world of change

    LLANELLI students have been addressing global issues such as poverty, inequality and the importance of recycling.

    Students at Coleg Sir Gâr have taken part in a week of events highlighting the problems.

    Students from across the college joined a global campaign to take action against poverty and inequality at the Llanelli campus.

    They watched a video by singer and rap star John Legend which featured celebrities putting their names to Stand Up Take Action — a campaign which saw 43.7 million supporters taking part in various events last year.

    This year, the students were part of 116 million people taking part in the campaign to remind government worldwide of the millennium development goals — a global plan involving 189 countries that have signed up to end poverty by 2015.

    Performing arts students took the stage with a performance entitled Ein Byd (our world) — highlighting global issues and local attitudes.

    Music technology students created a stomp-style event to encourage use of a recycling initiative. They created music by using their hands and recycling bins as drums.

    Coleg Sir Gâr's Steve Kelshaw said: "It was great to see so many students supporting social and global issues.

    "Young people are showing they care, and are prepared to do something about issues such as climate change and poverty."

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