City of Adelaide backs ‘Active Ambassador’ program

An innovative program aimed at removing barriers to exercise continues to gain momentum in the Adelaide community.

In less than a year, Adelaide City Council's ‘Active Ambassador’ program - which focuses on promoting free and low cost physical activity (less than $10 a class) - has seen more than 2,200 city users take positive steps towards their health and fitness goals.

A 2011 Council survey found 40% of city users struggled to get the recommended 30 minutes of exercise every day, with the most common barriers to exercise being identified as cost, lack of awareness about what is available, time, motivation and weather.

Adelaide City Council Recreation Coordinator Eve Craker explained that these results came in spite of “the city (being) surrounded by 700 hectares of green space (with) more than 100 sporting clubs and fitness centres in the CBD.”

As a result, the City now offers a 52 week program of activities with everything from yoga to blowcarting, beach volleyball and bootcamps, running and walking groups, led by more than 20 local fitness groups, clubs and personal trainers. The initiative caters for all demographics with programs for children, families, over 50's and people undergoing rehabilitation

Commenting on the success of the program, Craker adds “we wanted to be involved in the programming space but we needed to find a way that was more sustainable than Council running an eight week fitness program.

“(As a result) the Active Ambassador program is fantastic in reducing those barriers that we feel on a day to day basis,”

By creating a central platform for the industry to share and promote what they are already doing - through social media, a monthly fitness calendar and regular e-newsletters, Cracker explains “our partners are actually working together and the community are able to build relationships with these clubs over a longer term basis.”

Cracker also cites the response from the local fitness industry as being “overwhelming.”

The program is championed by celebrity Ambassadors such as Adelaide Advertiser columnist Ali Clarke and veteran radio presenter Keith Conlon, who runs a weekly bike riding group, called ‘Madams and Monsieurs’, taking riders through the city streets towards the River Torrens, with a coffee stop at the end.

For more information, click here to visit the Adelaide City Council Active Ambassador website.

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