THE latest data published by sportscotland shows that Active Schools is going from strength to strength with national figures at an all-time high and 7.3 million participant sessions delivered in 2017/18, an increase of six percent from 2016/17.

Contributing to the national figures, Scottish Borders Council ran 211,179 participant sessions in the last year, and 8,398 individual children and young people took part in a whole range of sports and physical activities in those sessions.

There has been a two percent increase overall in the percentage of the school roll now participating in Active Schools sessions nationally, and a six percent increase in the number of activity sessions, 10,789 of those sessions delivered in the Scottish Borders.

Mel Young, Chair of sportscotland, said: "It’s really encouraging to see the continued growth in participation in Active Schools activities across the country.

"The success of Active Schools is the result of strong local partnerships between Active Schools teams, school staff, sports development teams in local authorities, regional managers from the governing bodies, and local sports clubs. By working together, we can deliver more and better opportunities for young people of all abilities to take part in sport as these latest figures show."

Active Schools, one of sportscotland’s longest running flagship programmes, is designed to provide more and higher quality opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school.

Developing effective pathways between the Scottish Borders have identified 809 examples of links being reported including extracurricular links and holiday programmes.

Councillor Euan Jardine, Scottish Borders Council’s Executive Member for Culture and Sport, said: "Active Schools plays a vital role in giving our young people the chance to be physically active, and it is fantastic to hear that over 8,000 children took part in more than 200,000 sessions in the Scottish Borders last year.

“Taking part in physical activity and sport brings both mental and physical benefits to young people. So these numbers really emphasise the importance of the work we are delivering with our partners.”

Delivered in partnership with all 32 local authorities in primary, secondary and ASN schools, the impact of Active Schools goes beyond the numbers with a recent independent survey commissioned by sportscotland providing strong evidence that programmes like this are making a difference to people’s lives.

The survey of over 4000 school pupils showed that 98 percent of Active Schools participants feel healthier thanks to their involvement in the activities while 94 percent are motivated to be more active in the future and 92 percent of those surveyed felt more confident.

Graeme Murdoch, Active Communities Manager for Live Borders, said: "The success of the Scottish Borders’ Active Schools programme comes down to the network of coaches and volunteers who collectively give over 21,000 hours per year to deliver fun, safe and engaging activities.

“Eighty-nine percent of this workforce are volunteers ranging from senior pupils, parents, teachers, PE staff, development officers, club coaches and students.

“There is a total of 8,398 children involved, 57 percent of the school population versus a national average of 45 percent.

"The increase in individual children over the last 12 months can be attributed in part to the Active Schools team who are working in partnership with schools to provide a more targeted approach to physical activity opportunities. We are all focused on working to ensure children are healthier, happier and stronger.”