Falkirk pupils happier and healthier thanks to Active Schools project

St Margarets Primary School receiving sportscotland Gold Award. Jen Cairns active schools coordinator. (Pic: Michael Gillen)

The findings were revealed in research by sportscotland into the effect of the Active Schools programme.

Nationally, it helped 97% of participants - and figures for the Falkirk area were also very positive.

Feedback from over 500 pupils revealed that

94% feel healthier

84% feel happier

84% have made friends

69% have been helped by Active Schools to be more active outside school.

The Falkirk responses also showed that 94% were motivated to be active in the future and 68% feel they have learned a new skill.

Owners offer £500 to find missing Airth dog Cassie

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland, said: “This report demonstrates the life-changing impacts of sport participation. With the help of our partners across the sporting system we are determined to keep creating more and better opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to take part in sport.

“Scotland's sporting system has shown incredible resilience during what is an extremely difficult period for us all. It has not been easy for SGBs and local partners but there has been a shared commitment that has allowed us to continue to progress.

“We remain in the middle of a public health emergency, but as these findings show sport and physical activity is crucial for the nation’s physical and mental health and we are fully aware of the importance of sport’s role in the country’s recovery from the pandemic.”

The Active Scotland Outcome Framework (ASOF) reports were compiled by Union Date using survey responses from 9,000 school pupils during 2019/2020 and 11,000 sport club members.

Thank you for reading this story on our website. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, we are asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper. Thank you.