Welcome to LED in the Community!
As part of our commitment to the communities we serve and our values as a not-for-profit charitable trust, we have established a thriving Community Health and Wellbeing team.
We work in the community to support local groups and organisations with their health and wellbeing, examples of these include Stroke Survivors activity sessions, Dementia Friendly groups supporting sessions by offering gentle mobility exercises as well as wellbeing walks. Working with social prescribers to support people with long term health conditions. The Community Engagement team are passionate that regardless of age, ability, or background we can help you to become active!
Our friendly award-winning team deliver a varied programme of local and national projects, working with a wide range of partners to make this happen.
Meet the Team
Andrew Dare
Area Manager & Strategic Lead for Active Communities and Wellness
Lottie Edwards
Active Communities Manager
Jane Nicholls
Active Communities Coordinator
Lucy Burch
Community Enabler
Laura Wykes
Community Enabler
UK Shared Prosperity Fund
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and places, supporting local business, and people and skills.
Working with EDDC, LED was able to gain funds to develop community projects to support people in the East Devon community.
For more information about the Prosperity Fund read more on the East Devon website: East Devon Prosperity Fund Overview
The projects that we have delivered since 2022 are:
Pickleball
Pickleball is a fun sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Played both indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and with a slightly modified tennis net. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood, or composite materials, to hit a perforated polymer ball over a net. We introduced Pickleball to East Devon in 2022 and it is going from strength to strength with 3 clubs now developed and 6,587 attendances so far.
Our instructor, Ray Puttick, attended the National Pickleball Championships. Ray won two Bronze medals in the Men’s Doubles 3.5 65+ age and Mixed Doubles 3.5 65+ age. Ray also won the monthly South West League Doubles Tournament at the 4.0 level (all ages) for November, held in Weymouth.
For more information, check out: Pickleball England
Supporting Primary and Secondary Schools
The Community team collaborate with both primary and secondary schools, working with the hardest to reach groups that are highlighted through the East Devon Public Health agenda. By working closely with the school to identify children that would most benefit from our project, we aim to target children who would not otherwise receive such an opportunity.
Our projects are now needed more than ever to support the wellbeing of the young people in the community. We aim to work with children and young people that are most at need of our intervention and encourage them to see the benefits of physical activity for their general wellbeing, we have teamed up with HeadsUP mental health and various partners to ensure that we offer specific sessions that suit the needs of the individual school, offering sessions both on school sites and in our leisure centres.
We are currently working with the schools below and offer all schools a digital exercise platform working with Les Mills, called Born to Move. Read more here: Les Mills – Born to Move
Primary Schools:
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Secondary Schools:
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Fibromyalgia Project
LED’s Community Team partnered with Jurassic Coast Social Prescribers on a new and innovative pilot project for people living with Fibromyalgia in the Axminster area.
This infographic is an overview of the project and evaluation, with great feedback and results. As an outcome, the LED Hangar gym team in Axminster will be running a weekly chronic pain class for participants to be referred into.
For more information email outreach@ledleisure.co.uk.
Get in Touch
To contact the Community Team you can either email us or call us on 01395 234123 – we look forward to hearing from you!
Our Partners
