Haven launches Fun & Fitness giveaway

Haven Holidays, who offer a wide range of sports and leisure facilities at their 36 family holiday parks throughout the UK, have launched a Fun & Fitness campaign to support pre-school children across the country – spearheaded by two top British athletes.

Britain's leading family holiday company is giving away tens of thousands of items of sports equipment to pre-school groups in England, Scotland and Wales. The campaign will be launched with a number of free Fun & Fitness events for under-5's at venues around the country.

Spearheading the campaign are young British gymnasts Francesca Jones and Keziah Gore who'll be giving inspirational displays of their skills at the Fun & Fitness events - joined by Haven's characters Rory the Tiger and Anxious the Elephant.

The events take place at Birmingham (Alexander Stadium, 4th February); Cardiff (Welsh institute of Sport 11th February); London (Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, February 18th) Manchester (Sport City, Manchester Regional Arena 25th February)

Invited pre-school groups will have the opportunity to register for the scheme online during January. Once they have secured a place on the scheme (and it’s on a first come first served basis so pre-school leaders will need to be register quickly!) parents will need to pledge their support to make sure their children’s can benefit from equipment.

It’s very simple. There’s no need to collect vouchers, or make any purchase – all parents have to do is click on the website, find their children’s pre-school and pledge their support. What’s more, if ALL the parents in participating schools pledge their support the pre-school group will qualify for an additional bonus – such as a mini-trampoline, folding goal or exercise mat.'

Naomi Woodstock of Haven Holidays, said: "Haven offer all sorts of great activities for youngsters from swimming, football and fencing to golf, tennis and even archery. Our ‘Wake and Shake’ sessions, launched in 2008, have proved hugely popular with under-5’s.”

She continued, “We’re keen to extend the Wake and Shake activity outside the holiday parks and help encourage little ones that exercise can be fun. Playgroups have to meet quite stringent requirements regarding sport and exercise but receive little or no funding to help them meet their targets. It’s not easy having to rely on fund-raising and donations - which is why we believe this age group truly deserves our support.”

Haven's Wake and Shake sessions encourage youngsters to use a range of equipment including reaction balls, Frisbees, space hoppers and bean bags as well as taking part in races, exercises, parachute games and other activities organised by Haven FunStars. Lots of the equipment used in Wake and Shake sessions will be included in the giveaway packs and pre-school leaders and playgroups will be able to download additional material and support.

Naomi added “This is one of the biggest projects Haven has undertaken outside of our holiday parks but with the huge interest in sport generated by the Beijing Olympics and London hosting the 2012 Games, we believe this is the perfect time to encourage youngsters right from an early age. The best way to do that is to make sure they have the right equipment available.”

Both Francesca Jones and Keziah Gore - who are still in their teens themselves -started training at a young age and are keen to encourage other youngsters to get the exercise habit early.

They say "We’re really proud to be involved with Haven’s Fun and Fitness campaign as it encourages little ones to enjoy exercise. At this level it’s all about having fun and the equipment supplied will really benefit the children and help them with hand and eye co-ordination, balance and confidence. We hope this could be the start of some budding gymnastic and sports careers!"

For more information about the scheme click on havenfunfitness.com. For more details about Haven Holidays visit haven.com.