THOUSANDS of children took part in a virtual programme of activities to ensure youngsters across the county had access to a structured sport timetable throughout lockdown.

It was launched by Active Lancashire and the SPAR Lancashire School Games and designed around the PE curriculum.

Dominic Holroyd, Children and Young People Development Officer at Active Lancashire, said: “COVID-19 has had a significant impact on children’s physical and mental health during lockdown. The closure of schools, sport clubs and sporting facilities created a huge barrier for children and young people to access the physical, psychological and social benefits of taking part in regular sporting activity.

“Many children do not have gardens or easy access to green spaces and Sport England found that for many families, the activity levels of children depend hugely on the activity levels of their parents. We also know that those living in areas of deprivation or BAME backgrounds are less likely to be active than those who are from affluent areas or from white British backgrounds. The programme provided parents, teachers and carers with a fun, eclectic mix of sporting and cognitive challenges to work into their daily home schooling routine, or for those caring for keyworkers’ children.”

Last year, the SPAR Lancashire School Games engaged over 100,000 children across Lancashire, with 2,500 attending the county finals event at Stanley Park in Blackpool. This year’s virtual programme was hosted through the games’ website and social media channels, and the county finals took place online, in the form of a virtual sports day.

Dominic added: “It has been fantastic to see over 10,000 children taking part in the virtual sports day and teachers using the resources within their school timetables. The programme saw over 41,700 people visiting the website, 30,000 video views on YouTube and 19,200 hours of video watched on Facebook.

“The ten week programme is still available to access on the SPAR Lancashire School Games website, is completely free to use, and can be used throughout the summer holidays to ensure children remain active and engaged in sport.”

The free resources can be accessed via www.lancashireschoolgames.co.uk or Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.