National Fitness Day organisers ukactive brings back theme; ‘Your Health is For Life’ for a second year running

In support of National Fitness Day Everybody Health & Leisure will throw open their doors across Cheshire on Saturday 21^st September to offer FREE activities for everyone to try as part of National Fitness Day 2024 – which is set to be the UK’s most active day of the year.

The campaign organisers, ukactive, are encouraging fitness, sport and leisure providers across the UK to make the campaign movement a great success, by breaking down the barriers and getting more people more active.

The campaign now represents the UK’s most active day of the year and is powered by thousands of gyms, swimming pools, leisure centres, sports clubs and other providers, hosting a huge range of free activities including Everybody who are offering a body composition scan which includes a FREE blood pressure check as part of their Feel 5 Years Younger campaign.

Everybody will be hosting activities including: (see webpage below for class timetable)

• Crewe Lifestyle Centre – Body Combat 100, Yoga, Pilates
• Congleton Leisure Centre – Yoga Workshop
• Macclesfield Leisure Centre – Body Combat 100, Body Pump, Body Balance, Yoga, TRAIN
• Poynton Leisure Centre – Yoga
• Wilmslow Leisure Centre – Body Combat 100, Family Yoga, Body Pump, TRAIN, Pilates, Group Cycling, Yoga
• All Leisure Centres – Activation Sessions

Last year, 10.2 million people in the UK were directly motivated to participate in some form of activity on National Fitness Day, whether for the first time or for the hundredth time.

Dominic Crisp, Head of Operations at Everybody Health & Leisure, shares:

” We are so excited to be back celebrating National Fitness Day in our centres this year. We can’t wait to welcome everyone, both members and non-members to come along and try out our free sessions to show people what our facilities have to offer. Our staff are ready to give you all the best health and fitness experience possible!”

Huw Edwards, CEO of ukactive said:

“It’s clear that our nation’s gyms, pools, leisure centres, fitness studios and sports clubs have never been so in demand, showing how much people value physical activity for their physical and mental health. It’s great to announce the date for National Fitness Day and some fantastic partners in the shape of Endurance Zone and Movember, to help us make this year our biggest yet.”

Huw Edwards continued:

“National Fitness Day really is a fun day with a serious message and this year, with the potential for a General Election and an exciting summer of sport, we have a golden chance to highlight the value of physical activity at all ages, and the role of our members in building a happier and healthier nation.”

To try Everybody Health and Leisure’s free activities on National Fitness Day 2024 visit www.everybody.org.uk/national-fitness-day-2024/

Share your fitness inspiration on social media using the hashtag #FitnessDay and tagging @FitnessDayUK.

With summer holidays now behind us and (dare I say it) Christmas on the horizon, it’s time to catch up on all the news and views from our members from across North Cheshire.  We all know there is far too much bad news about, so find yourself a quiet corner, settle down with your favourite tipple and be amazed at all the great stories generated by our rich, diverse and entrepreneurial business community.

And remember, if your business isn’t featured this month, every member gets the opportunity to supply 250 words of editorial and a picture FREE OF CHARGE!  Just send us your ‘stuff’ to reception@northcheshirechamber.co.uk

To download the magazine click here

The summer holidays have seen The King’s School transformed into a television set for the filming of a long-running children’s TV series. Such has been the scale of the production with a small army descending on the town, it is estimated to be adding up to £250,000 to the local economy throughout their hectic two-month filming schedule.

Using King’s new campus in Prestbury as the main location for the eight-week school holiday season, the crew are making 10 episodes, which will be edited over Autumn and Winter and broadcast on CBBC and iPlayer.

The production has seen a small army descend on King’s with a core team of around 55 crew including camera operators, sound engineers, lighting, costume and make up staff, with 10 main cast and up to another 50 supporting artists, with 10 extra crew on set piece days.

They arrive early to start filming at 8am and carry on until 7pm. The school’s own Drama Studio has been rebuilt as the fictitious head teacher’s office, new art work and signage has been installed throughout the corridors and entrances, and King’s main Jackson Hall taken over by a mass of the latest tech for each day’s filming. As well as three HGVs on the King’s site, a large Art Department has been built at Macclesfield Rugby Club to service the TV filming.

They chose King’s to stay ahead of the times, as Richard Everiss, Line Producer, explained: “In the past, we have filmed in unused old schools but they were beginning to look out-of-date, as so many schools have been replaced by the new generation of academies, so King’s gives us that perfect, contemporary setting. From the early rushes, it is clear that the new campus here has taken the show to the next level.”

“It also allows us to use some of the King’s pupils and other children from the town who want to be involved as supporting artistes.”

Richard, who has also recently worked on Waterloo Road and Brassic, has temporarily relocated from his home to Macclesfield and says he loves the town. “It’s unspoilt, has a lot of its original architecture and is a great place to live with lots of things to do and great restaurants. I’m loving living here.”

He adds, “Something this scale always makes a massive contribution to the local economy. You might think, with King’s being the main location, that they would be the only ones to benefit but it is estimated that we will have put up to £250,000 into the wider local economy by the time we leave. The cast and crew are using local hotels and houses that we are renting, and we source as much as we can locally, including things like the materials for our sets.”

He added: “That’s why cities like Manchester and Liverpool try so hard to attract film and television companies to their streets, and alongside cities such as Glasgow and Bristol have become significant production hubs for the industry. ”

Caroline Johnson, King’s Director of External Relations, said: “It is fantastic for Macclesfield to be chosen as the location for a long running and much-loved TV show. Its fascinating for the staff and pupils who are in school to get a fly on wall perspective of modern filming and TV production. The pupils who are working as ‘extras’ are learning so much from the experience and some of our Sixth Formers are doing work experience with the crew. One or two staff have also negotiated some cameo appearances!”

The filming wraps up at the end of August, ready for pupils and staff to return for the new academic year.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

Pictured are Director Jason Wingard with Producer Richard Everiss.

Pictured is Line Producer Richard Everiss.

Pictured are actor Alex Carter and Make up designer Caroline Rose.

Cheshire East Council, like all councils across the country, has been experiencing unprecedented financial pressures and is required to put forward proposals showing how it can balance its budget. The council approved its medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) for 2024 to 2028 at a meeting of Full Council in February 2024, and this put forward proposals showing how the council could balance its budget for the next 4 years.

The MTFS for 2024 to 2028 included proposal 73: “Libraries Strategy”. This proposal set out the intention to develop a Libraries Strategy to consider the medium and long term future of this service, in particular how it becomes more financially self-sustainable through income generation. This proposal set a further savings target of £615,000 for the Library Service.

Cheshire East Council is now conducting this consultation on a draft Libraries Strategy for 2024 to 2028 (PDF, 4.9MB), and on how this strategy will be delivered and how this savings target will be met. An accessible version of this draft Library Strategy is also available here (PDF, 817KB).

This strategy has been developed based on feedback from past Library Service Consultations, in liaison with key council services including Adults, Childrens, Communities, Customer Services, Public Health, and Leisure Services, and in conjunction with Cheshire East Ward Councillors and Town and Parish Councils.

The final Libraries Strategy will be amended to reflect consultation feedback, with Environment and Communities Committee having a final say on whether it is adopted later this year.

Note that proposals for Prestbury Library are not included within the scope of this consultation, as that library is funded by The Ann Whittaker Trust, which is an independent Charitable Trust first established in the 1600s, and which is a model which could not easily be replicated elsewhere.

To have your say, visit the Council website here

 

From September – January The Pledge runs its Employment Readiness Programme followed by Mock Assessment Centres.

The Employment Readiness Programme is aimed at Year 13 students (last year of A Level) who do not want to go to University, undecided and are looking at alternative pathways, mostly apprenticeships or straight into employment. The aim of the programme is to help students understand what employers are looking for and be more employment ready and understand what apprenticeships are.

The Pledge will be running many workshops within several sixth forms and colleges around the North Cheshire East area, highlighting all the opportunities that are available after leaving college and are looking for employers that would like to take part who are actively looking for new talent.

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The following opportunities are available:-

What is an Apprenticeship and Apprentice Q&A

We talk about what apprenticeships there are, the different levels, where you can apply etc. We then look to have current apprentices at the event to do a Q&A session with them about what they do as an apprentice, why they chose to be an apprentice and what advice they would give to budding apprentices. We ask the students if they have any questions they would like to ask. Ideal if you have apprentices that are alumni from any of the schools that we deliver in.

The dates for these are as follows:-

11/09/2024	Fallibroome	09:10-10:00
08/10/2024	Wilmslow	09:05-10:05
08/10/2024	Knutsford	11:30-12:30
10/10/2024	Eaton Bank	11:20-12:20
09/10/2024	Tytherington	09:05-10:05

CV Masterclass Workshop with Employer Input

This is a 1 hour session, to get the young people starting to think about the right things to have on their CV, how to set it up, and what employers look for in the CV.  The Pledge team will lead the session but will bring in employers to give their input and advice. This is delivered within the school however if you would prefer, we can beam you in virtually through Microsoft Teams.

The dates for these are as follows:-

09/10/2024	Tytherington	10:05-11:05
09/10/2024	Fallibroome	11:30-12:30
22/10/2024	Wilmslow	09:05-10:05
05/11/2024	Knutsford	11:30-12:30
14/11/2024	Eaton Bank	11:20-12:20
18/11/2024	Macclesfield College	All Day – 6×1 hour sessions to 6 different cohorts

CV One to One Sessions with Employers – Virtual

The CV “One to One” session is where young people will be able to have a more personal approach with one employer and a chance for the young person to get feedback on their CV and have the practice of sitting in front of an employer and talk about their experience. This is also a great chance for an employer to meet future talent and to help young people become more employment ready. This is virtual and generally takes 1 hour. We would arrange each employer to have 3 – 4 appointments with young people so they would log into a Teams call at a designated time for their 15 minute CV chat. You would be sent CVs in advance.

The dates for these are as follows:- (Where the session runs over multiple hours or all day, choose a 1 hour slot that works for you)

05/11/2024	Fallibroome	09:00-12:00
06/11/2024	Tytherington	All Day
12/11/2024	Wilmslow	09:05-10:05
26/11/2024	Wilmslow	09:05-10:05
26/11/2024	Knutsford	All Day
28/11/2024	Eaton Bank	All Day

  Preparing for an Interview & Assessment Centre

This session is led by the Pledge team and asks for employer input in terms of what they are looking for within candidates and any tips and advice. This is delivered within the school however if you would prefer, we can beam you in virtually through Microsoft Teams.

The dates and times are as follow :-

25/11/2024	Macclesfield College	All Day – 6×1 hour sessions to 6 different cohorts
26/11/2024	Poynton	10:00-11:00
06/12/2024	Fallibroome	09:10-10:10
10/12/2024	Wilmslow	09:05-10:05
10/12/2024	Knutsford	11:30-12:30
12/12/2024	Eaton Bank	11:20-12:20
09/01/2025	Tytherington	09:05-10:05

We will also be delivering the above sessions in All Hallows Catholic College and Congleton High School (dates will be sent out early September) 

Mock Assessment Centre  – Shrigley Hall – Friday 14^th January – 09:00-17:00

In January we had around 170 students attend this event who are actively seeking apprenticeships. So, if you are a business who is looking to recruit then this is a great opportunity to cherry pick future talent for your business being part of the employer assessor team to give students the practice of going through an assessment centre and giving feedback. The Assessment centre will be made up of  sessions such as group tasks, interviews and presentations. We are looking for employers and apprentices to help support the event and provide feedback for those attending.

If you’d like to get involved please contact:

James Buckley | Pledge Facilitator
The Pledge

e | james.buckley@youthfed.org
m | 07837 111095

cheshireandwarringtonpledge.com
+44(0)151 357 1971