THE chief executive of Fife’s leading provider of sports and leisure facilities has welcomed the latest attendance figures to leisure centres across the county, thanking local people for continuing to support the organisation’s facilities.

And Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre was one of the facilities to feature highly but the closure of Bowhill Pool due to a fire in the summer posed some problems.

The latest figures from Fife Sports and Leisure Trust show that more people across Fife are getting more active – the eighth consecutive year local people are choosing to visit leisure centres in increasing numbers.

Figures released by the charitable trust – launched in 2008 to operate and manage Fife Council’s 14 facilities across the region – for April 2015 to March 2016, show another year-on-year growth for customer visits.

With an overall attendance of 2,673,064, a 2.4 per cent increase on the same period last year, the figures show that the organisation is delivering on its commitment to get more people more active more of the time.

Both wetside and dryside facilities recorded an increase in usage, with fitness classes being a stand-out success with attendances at 197,214, an increase of 12 per cent. Usage of outdoor facilities such as the football pitches the Pit Road Centre at was also up 12 per cent on the previous year with 263,531 attendances.

The trust’s ability to engage with all ages has also continued strongly with increases in under-18s, 18 to 60-year-olds and the over-60s groups.

Programmes delivered by the Trust aimed at targeting specific user groups also saw encouraging growth. Quitfit, a smoking cessation programme, delivered in partnership with NHS Fife which encourages participants to take up regular physical activity as a way to boost long-term healthy lifestyle change, saw a 41 per cent increase, with over 1,000 Fifers attending. A recently-launched programme designed to give those seeking employment discounted access to improve their health and wellbeing, saw over 300 jobseekers take up the opportunity to get active.

A health and physical activity programme, funded through investment by the Trust, continued its commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of communities across Fife, particularly those living with long-term health conditions. Referral-based classes designed to support those suffering from conditions such as diabetes, cardiac incidents, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, recorded an overall increase of eight per cent on last year.

Of the programmes delivered by the health and physical activity team, Active Options 2 saw an increase of 21 per cent attendances and cardiac rehabilitation attendances increased by 35 per cent – a total of over 33,000 attendances by people using the referral-based programmes.

Quid-a-Kid, an initiative which offers youngsters the chance to play football, racquet sports or swimming for just one pound at the weekends, saw an 18 per cent increase in take-up.

Ed Watson, chief executive for Fife Sports and Leisure Trust, said: “As a local Trust, we are very aware that people who choose to use our facilities are investing in an organisation which has the wellbeing of local communities at its core – by continuing to perform well, we are able to invest surpluses back into facilities and programmes for everyone’s benefit. I’d like to thank customers for their continued support.

“The Trust is continuing to deliver high-quality facilities and programmes which allow local people affordable access to leisure and sports opportunities – a commitment we see as vital to improving the health and wellbeing of local communities across Fife. Despite the closure of Bowhill Swimming Pool due to fire damage, we still recorded another successful year, increasing attendances yet again.

“I’m particularly pleased that our teams are putting customer experience at the forefront of what we do, and, increases in fitness class attendance, the health and wellbeing programme and target user groups – all demonstrate that our ability to offer the best-qualified instructors and quality programmes in Fife, are having an impact on customer numbers.”