By Lauren Connis, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Oldham Active
Following the launch of ukactive’s new Children and Young People guidance, we hear from Oldham Active on how they are already supporting the next generation across their facilities, and why ukactive’s new guidance will help ensure every child can get active in a safe, supportive environment.
At Oldham Active (Oldham Community Leisure), we’re proud to support a borough full of energy, diversity and young talent. Every day, we welcome children and teenagers from across Oldham’s neighbourhoods who are eager to move more, feel healthier and build confidence. Our job is to make sure they have the spaces, guidance and encouragement to do exactly that.
Supporting young people across our centres
Our facilities offer a welcoming environment where Oldham’s young people can get active in ways that suit their goals and interests. Our young person’s offer, available from age 13+, gives them the chance to learn how to use gym equipment safely while building strength, stamina and confidence through our comprehensive induction programme, Elevate.
We feel that this is a crucial part of the process to onboard – with all young people benefitting from a structured induction, delivered by qualified fitness instructors who also hold a Level 2 Adolescents qualification. This ensures they receive age-appropriate guidance from staff who truly understand their needs and are committed to helping them build healthy relationships with exercise.
In our pools, thousands of local children take part in swimming lessons every year, developing vital life skills alongside resilience, discipline and confidence. Our public swimming sessions are also a favourite for families seeking fun, affordable and healthy activities within their own community.
We’re proud to work closely with local schools, youth centres and community organisations to deliver tailored activity sessions. These partnerships mean that young people who might not otherwise access structured physical activity can still enjoy positive, supported experiences at their local leisure centre.
Local impact: stories from our community
One recent example comes from Oldham Leisure Centre, where our Young Person’s Gym Pathway helped a 13-year-old from Royton who initially felt anxious about entering the gym. With patient guidance and an age-appropriate induction, he developed the confidence to use equipment safely and now attends regularly, telling us that it helps him “feel stronger, calmer and more focused at school.”
During the summer, we also partnered with the HAF (Holiday Activity and Food) programme to provide young people with two months of free membership across all Oldham Active leisure centres. The offer also included a free hot meal from the centre, helping ensure that local families could access nutritional support alongside their activity.
Helping shape national guidance
Oldham Active has played an active role in the ukactive working group focused on strengthening guidance for supporting children and young people in gyms, pools and leisure settings. Being involved meant we could bring the experiences and voices of Oldham families into national discussions, ensuring the final guidance reflects the real needs of communities like ours.
Why supporting young people matters to Oldham
Encouraging young people to be active isn’t only about sport, it’s about supporting physical health, boosting mental wellbeing, providing safe spaces and helping young people make positive choices. In a borough as proud and community-minded as Oldham, our leisure centres play a vital role. They are places where young people can feel welcome, supported and part of something positive right on their doorstep.
How the new guidance strengthens our approach
The updated ukactive guidance reinforces many of the principles we already embed across Oldham Active’s centres, including:
- Age-appropriate inductions designed around young people’s needs
- Effective supervision that ensures safety while encouraging independence
- Tailored programmes that help young people progress at their own pace
- Consistent standards across all sites so families always know what to expect
These principles help us provide safe, inclusive and development-focused environments for young people across Oldham, ensuring that every child or teenager who walks through our doors is supported to grow, thrive and enjoy being active.
To read the guidance, ‘Children and Young People in Gym and Group Exercise Facilities’, click here.
ukactive will be hosting a special webinar tomorrow on Tuesday 2 December at 12pm for ukactive members to learn more about using the guidance – register here.
