Together with Cardiff and Vale College, ColegauCymru was delighted to welcome members of the Senedd Health and Social Committee along with other stakeholders to the City Centre Campus today. The visit allowed the committee members to gain a better understanding of the role active wellbeing plays in further education and the longer-term benefits of supporting the health and wellbeing of FE learners in Wales.
The visit was arranged in the context of the Committee’s Inquiry which is looking at the Prevention of Ill Health - Obesity.
ColegauCymru Active Wellbeing and Sport Project Manager, Rob Baynham, said,
“Today was a great opportunity for Committee members to see Active Wellbeing in action. Cardiff and Vale College has been sector leading in developing its Active Wellbeing provision, particularly since the development of new facilities at its City Centre campus. The college has taken a proactive approach to embedding activity into the daily timetable of learners allowing them to make the most of the facilities available.”
At a national level, the ColegauCymru Active Wellbeing Project works with 11 FE colleges and engages with over 5,000 FE learners per year. Typically, the project works with those learners not already engaged in physical activity or sport, with a focus on female learners and other groups with protected characteristics (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, learning disability, social background) that may lead to barriers to participation.
Cardiff and Vale College Principal, Sharon James-Evans, added,
"It was great to welcome the Senedd Health and Social Care Committee to our City Centre Campus and have the opportunity to showcase our Active Wellbeing programme in action.
At CAVC, we strongly believe in the benefits of exercise and activity and what it can do for a young person’s physical and mental wellbeing. Our Active Wellbeing programme engages with thousands of learners from those harder to reach all the way through to those competing at a national level through our Sports Academies.
As well as focusing on creating skilled and employable people, we’re passionate about ensuring our young people create healthy habits that they can take forward into their future. Our Active Wellbeing programme engages with learners that might otherwise not be physically active and provides them with facilities and opportunities to integrate activity into their lives."
The visit, which included a tour of the college’s active wellbeing and sports facilities, gave members an opportunity to meet staff and learners involved in the project, observe activity in practice and see first-hand the benefits of investment in facilities on learning, wellbeing and local community engagement.
There was an opportunity to visit the College’s indoor ‘sports dome’ facility and to chat with learners about their experiences whilst watching some of the activities available. Members spoke with junior apprenticeship learners, construction and engineering learners and students following Independent Living Skills courses.
ColegauCymru is grateful to Cardiff and Vale College for hosting this visit and to the Committee for including this visit as part of their wider inquiry. ColegauCymru will be re-developing its Active Wellbeing Strategy in 2025 and welcomes the opportunity to use further insight in this space to help better inform the strategic direction for the sector.
Further Information
ColegauCymru Active Wellbeing Strategy
2020 - 2025
Senedd Inquiry
Prevention of Ill Health – Obesity
2024
Estyn Thematic Review
A review of the junior apprenticeship programme in Wales
13 May 2024
Rob Baynham, ColegauCymru Active Wellbeing and Sport Project Manager
Rob.Baynham@ColegauCymru.ac.uk
