Better Health, Better Care- Taking Responsibility (2)

So much for drink. Now onto exercise and sport.
This report concentrates mainly on sport; providing sporting facilities in schools, having two hours of PE every week and so on. But providing sport in schools isn't just about providing facilities; it's also about providing the backing in which sport can flourish.

Back in the '70s, there was lots of school football clubs. On Saturday mornings, when there was matches between them, every official on the pitch got paid for attending. Everyone that is, except the PE teacher. They did not get paid, either in their wage, or on the day, for attending that match. It was a petty economy that proved to be very costly. When the teacher's strike happened in 1985, the teachers went to a 'work-to-rule'. Many of these clubs went to the wall, and Saturday activities in general. The ship was lost for a ha'penny worth of tar.

Again, the rise of child legislation and the associated red tape has led to a drop off in volunteers, especially in sport. It is a high contact activity and unfortunately there are so called 'children' who are very savvy about complaining of abuse if a teacher simply annoys them. A friend of mine was at the receiving end of a complaint like this. His name was dragged through the paper, while the little darling who had complained was not named, becuase they were too young. When the procurater fiscal threw it out, nothing was done about the complainer. If a complaint is patently malicious, then it should be pursued, otherwise we are going to lose all our volunteers. There are few teachers now who will take schoolchildren on a day out or abroad. It's a shame, becuase it means the decent kids are losing out. If we are serious about sport, we have to provide protection for those run the clubs. Adults should be vetted, but it should be made plain to children that if they raise a false complaint, that they will be censured.

One thing missing from this section is exercise. Not all of us do sport, and not everyone is welcome at a gym. But lots of us walk and one area that should be considered in this, is the provision of parks.
Think of a young mum looking after her child. She can't go to the gym, because the child won't be allowed in, and it's probably too expensive anyway. But she can put the child in a buggy and go down to the park. She can meet other mums there.
The same goes for the elderly. They may not fancy going on a treadmill or weightlifting, but they can always go for a walk in the park. They can buy a dog and join the doggy fraternity. I was totally unaware of this, until my mum got a dog and I went for walks in our local park. There is a whole community down there and there's all kinds of spin offs; coffee mornings, sponsored walks, dog training etc. Also,if someone is missing, it's noticed; people in this group look out for each other.
It's not just mums and elderly; our park is popular with runners, because it's a mile square.
Parks are a real asset, but unfortunately, some are getting houses built on them; others are getting sporting facilities that only a small section of the population are going to have access to. We need to revise this.
Also, it's time to bring back park wardens, to ensure that parks are used properly and not as a place to drink or shoot up. Just a small amount of low level supervision in public places would cut out a lot of vandalism, drinking and suchlike and simultaneously free up places that we could exercise and smell the flowers. There you are. The solution to public drinking and lack of exercise in one. How about it, Nicola?