Get Active Week

What began years ago as a small project is now a major event, and Get Active Week every June is a vital fixture in the RSVP calendar. Hundreds of volunteers raise funds to provide thousands of housebound and isolated people with a great day out, an opportunity to leave what is often a very restricted environment, and the chance to enjoy the company of other friendly people.

Throughout the UK there are boat trips, theatre visits, outings to the seaside, garden centres and museums, tea parties, tea dances, fish and chip suppers, strawberry and cream teas - to name just a few.

There is also increasing participation in community and intergenerational activities. Working together in brightening up neglected communal areas is not only enjoyable but also helps give a sense of achievement and belonging. Working for the day with the local archaeological society provides the excitement of uncovering the past history of the area in which you live.

RSVP celebrated Get Active Week 2011 with its usual flair and style, and a great variety of local events across the whole UK took place. Get Active Week is important in the RSVP calendar, and as always groups worked hard to secure extrafunding to enable them to hold the greatest range of events. From the Tees Valley (which included exercise tasters and a trip to the BBC NE studio where guests could try their hand at being newsreaders) to the London groups (with lots of trips out for volunteers and guests), from Anglesey/Ynys Mon and North Wales (with volunteer get-togethers) to Milford Haven (including a stall at the Pembrokeshire Fish Week Festival), from Canterbury (with a trip to Whitstable) to Birmingham (including a community get together with lunch, a quiz and a choir), RSVP groups engaged in many many activities. In the final analysis what cannot be measured is the sheer joy and delight of so many housebound or isolated people who enjoyed something rare — a summer day out, sightseeing and being happy in the company of other people.

Images from 2011

A Plymouth volunteer entertains...... in the guise of Mrs Pepperpot

 

A walk to the Leyburn Shawl ...... In North Yorkshire

 

and a knees-up ......In Middlesborough.