Active Communities resource page

There is a huge amount of information and resources available to help you stay active at home.

For children

• PE with Joe - available weekdays live at 9am on his YouTube channel
• The Youth Sport Trust has a variety of activities that can be completed at home and can be adapted to suit a range of ages and abilities
• The FA's free Superkicks App is available with hundreds of challenges with various levels built in for young people to try
• Gymnastics HQ have developed a series of activity plans to keep active and practicing your gymnastics
• Early Movers has practical ideas to help with babies and young children's physical development.
• Swim school activity pack with plenty of fun, games and activities to try, all related to swimming and learning to swim. Available in the downloads section at the bottom of the page. 
• With schools closed, Team GB's Get Set programme has put together a range of free activities, challenges and learning resources to using the Olympic and Paralympic values to help children aged 5-18 to get active.
• support for parents helping children get more active from UK Coaching
• UK Active Kids have released #NikeMoveCrew which sets weekly and daily missions for children to take part in that helps towards their 60 minutes of daily recommended activity

For adults

• Sport England's #StayInWorkOut campaign has a dedicated page with a variety of activities to follow for all ages. This includes home workouts, activities to do with your children, accessible activities and mindfulness programmes
• Les Mills have provided free access to their online exercise classes through a Les Mills on demand free trial of their 'On Demand' service
• There are free workouts available at the Fitness Blender website that also provides healthy recipe ideas and healthy living guidance
• The NHS also have a variety of beginner and intermediate workouts available on their website all of which are easy to follow
• The Active Wiltshire Facebook page has a variety of challenges, workouts, videos to follow and live classes to engage in
• This spring, Fields in Trust have instigated an initiative called Bringing Parks to You! They are taking a virtual tour around the UK discovering beautiful parks and green spaces. Get your community involved to help shape the journey.

NEW

• Walking Netball online session - Thursday, 10.30am - 11.30am hosted by Becca Higgs, Sports Development. Join this fun online weekly session on Microsoft Teams.
• Live online group exercise classes provided by Wiltshire Council instructors are available daily via the Microsoft Teams app. 

For women and girls 

• MoJoManuals are an inspiring, educational resource that have been voluntarily written by top sport scientists, leading coaches and educational tutors. MoJoManuals empower girls and women with information on how to be the best athlete/player they can be whilst gently building confidence to tackle specific challenges that girls often face in sport and life. The workbook format has embedded video links which add info or demonstrate routines/exercises and can be downloaded to your PC or smart device. Free download of these manuals available until end of May 2020. Follow WSNet on Twitterto get access

For older people

• The NHS have a range of tips, advice and guidance on staying active in your later years including specific workouts for strength, flexibility and easy 10 minute whole body workouts
• The '10 Today' audio exercise routines have been designed to help older people stay active at home are available on demand from BBC Sounds and broadcast live on BB Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
• Free support pack for older people during COVID-19 with a variety of activities available to keep moving at home.
• NEW - walking sports activity pack available in the downloads section below with activities, challenges and ways to stay connected to other walking sports participants. 
• NEW - People with long term health conditions are even more impacted by Covid-19. #WeAreUndefeatable has lots of information to people keep active safely during this time.

Disabled persons activity 

Activity Alliance have a range of inclusive activities to keep individuals with a disability or long term health condition, active whilst at home.

Active Health

Active Health is the council's physical activity referral scheme that enables people to be referred by their GP to support their activity needs. 

• There's now two 20 minute Active Health videos available here, led by Rich, one of our instructors
  • Video 1 
  • Video 2  
• The NHS has a number of exercise programmes available for a variety of different themes:  
• Sitting Exercise
• Strength exercises 
• Balance exercises
• Flexibility exercises
• There is a growing video library of activities suitable for older, and less physically stable, people provided by Later Life Training for falls clients with regular daily videos on their Facebook page at 8am, 12 noon and 4pm. You can access all previous videos on their YouTube channel also.  
• British Heart Foundation video providing activities for cardiac clients.

• 12 top tips from the NHS for keeping on top of your mental wellbeing whilst staying at home
• Visit the NHS mental health and wellbeing advice website for self-assessment, audio guides and practical tools, if you are experiencing stress, feelings of anxiety or low mood
• Living Life provide free resources including audiobooks and worksheets to help manage mental health problems
• Turn2me is an online resource providing information, support and guidance to promote positive mental health
• Action for Happiness have a variety of resources available including a coping calendar, 10 keys to happier living as well as a number of things you can practically do to help with positive mental health in their 'actions' section
• The NHS provides sources of information for those living with a variety of mental health problems. If you already have a mental health problem, you can also access comprehensive guidance provided by Mind.
• You can borrow many titles from the expert endorsed Reading Well collections from the Wiltshire library eBook website and app. Reading Well promotes the benefits of reading for health and wellbeing, covering long term health conditions, mental health, dementia and books for young people and children.  These titles have been recommended by health professionals.

For children

• Wiltshire libraries are providing Facebook Live Rhyme Times at 11am each week day. To find out more, visit the library Facebook pages. 
• You can also view a replay of some of the previous Rhyme Time Facebook sessions, including a sign language session, by visiting our YouTube channel
• Book Trust have lots of interactive books to read online or watch with signing
• Storyline Online is the SAG-AFTRA Foundation's award-winning children's literacy website which streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children's books alongside creatively produced illustrations
• ASCEL have some resources, such as the Toolkits for RhymeTime and BumpBooster, the latter has links to freely available nursery rhymes online, that can be shared
• A growing number of children's author and illustrators are now doing story reading or drawing sessions. These include:
  • @RobBiddulph
  • @CressidaCowell 
  • @ChrisRiddell
  • @ed_vere
  • Please follow the Wiltshire Libraries Twitter account for more of these.
• Many children's publisher's offer fun activities on their websites linked to popular book characters or series, including:
  • Egmont children's activities
  • Puffin schools
  • Penguin
  • Scholastic's kids club
• National Shelf Service, is a new weekly YouTube broadcast featuring book recommendations from professional librarians. Focusing on helping children and families discover new, diverse reading experiences, the broadcast will run every Monday at 11am until 5 October.
• The Silly Squad Summer Reading Challenge 2020, produced by the Reading Agency for children aged four to 11, launches on Friday 5 June and will run until September. This year it will be an online challenge with a safe online sign-up process which gives access to a personal profile area where children set reading goals, review books, view book recommendations and access guides to e-lending. There is also a forum to chat to friends, play games, download and print activities, as well as family activities with rewards and unlockable content to keep children and families engaged throughout the summer months. 

For adults

• If your reading group has moved online, we have a list of eBooks that can be read by multiple people at once and that are ideal for reading groups. The list of Reading Group Suggestions can be found on the Wiltshire RBdigital Home page.
• The Wiltshire library service now have 38 eMagazines available, as well as thousands of eBooks and eAudiobooks, all of which are free to download with a Wiltshire library card.
• Visit the Wiltshire library Facebook pages at 7pm on Thursday evenings for a short quiz. Answers will be posted at 7pm the next day. 

• Fortnightly on Tuesdays at 3pm, we'll be holding live poetry, tea and chat sessions. To find out more, visit the library Facebook pages..

• On the first Sunday of the month at 10am, join Philip and Jane for a book chat session on our Facebook pages. 

• Discover a world of heritage, arts and culture on the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre website. Listen to the new online Memory Box Reading Group, read about our archives collections in the History Centre blog and for families and teachers looking for resources and ideas for home learning visit the education pages. Click on to the History Centre website to explore some of our amazing archives and project, learn how to research your family history or discover what goes on behind the scenes in our conservation labs.
• Visit the Arts in Wiltshere blog for a wide array of ideas to draw, write, sing, watch theatre, shows, films, documentaries as well as ideas to get involved in dance, photography, crafts and much, much more. This blog has a large number of links to other resources for you to try.
• If your child is interested in swimming or is a learn to swim member at one of Wiltshire Council's swimming pools then why not give them our Swim school activity packto have a go at, which features a range of swimming related tasks, activities and challenges.
• National creative arts competition for over 70's stuck at home to challenge ordinary people, who have never published before and are not professional writers, musicians or artists, to create new works of literature, poetry, music and art during the time they are quarantined. 
• PoundArts are collecting activities, events and shows to enjoy online - sign up for your weekly roundup here. They have also put a couple of videos online for you to watch including: Ukulele Digital Sessions - Getting Started and Curator's Discussion: Incendiary at The Pound Arts Centre
• Fun Palaces are collating Tiny Revolutions of Connection - activities suggested from around the UK of things to do with others or in isolation, supporting community connection at a distance
• KAPOW! The marvellous Cartoon Museum has produced free resources showing people how to draw their own comic stories, create caricatures and more.
• The National Archives has collated a series of boredom busters - these online resources and activities include do-it-yourself family history tips, home schooling resources, author talks and games for families.
• Art UK is the online home for every public art collection in the UK which means that while galleries and museums are closed you can still view your favourite paintings. You can search by venue or by artist. In May Art UK is launching Curations, a tool that lets the public create their own digital artworks exhibition. It will provide some help to museums and other public art collections, allowing them to maintain their relationships with the public through digital means, raise awareness of the art they hold, and the stories behind the art - so that when better times return, more people will head to see the art for real. Partner Collections can join the Art UK Shop at no extra cost to their organisation. This is a shared digital infrastructure that helps collections to generate commercial income without risk or capital spend.
• Birmingham Museums is one of many cultural organisations to take its collections and premises online to support visitor engagement during the lockdown caused by Covid-19. Visitors can enjoy virtual tours via ScanTech Digital, an extensive image database, 'object spotlight' videos, past displays and exhibitions on the museums YouTube channel. To help bolster funds a Just Giving page has been set up with a suggested donation of £3.

New 

• Wiltshire's Celebrating Age project has posted it's third concert online on their YouTube page - this was recorded on March 18 and you can watch it now. 
• There are now five seated dance sessions available online These sessions have been developed by Wiltshire Music Centre as part of their #CelebratingAge project and is an ideal activity for older people or individuals with a disability to get active at home.

Last updated: Friday 10 July

• Digital Unite have brought together some of their most relevant digital guides to help staff and customers during these challenging times - e.g. Finding reliable COVID-19 news & information, social media, online shopping
• Learn My Way from the Good Things Foundation have easy to follow courses covering many areas including the basics of using a mouse and keyboard, staying safe online, using office programs, managing money, health appts online, shopping etc.
• Future Learn - free membership with a lot of different online courses on a wide range of topics, including CPD courses like how to teach online.

• NEW - Find out about local fire service provision with a range of educational and fun activities on their online as well as their C19 Mini Superheroes challenge! 

Last updated: Thursday 30 April

Librarians across the country have collated a list of helpful online resources to assist parents with homeschooling.

General resources

• BBC Bitesize Fact or fake
• Twinkl
• Right Choice - A wide variety of support services to all education providers, including Schools, Academies, Further Education Colleges, Early Years Providers, Childcare Settings and Local Authorities.

Drama

• Shakespeare Week
• Royal Shakespeare Company

English

• Teachit English Free membership available until end of April 2020
• Poetry Society
• National Literacy Trust
• Words for Life
• World Book Day
• Book Trust
• Storyline Online
• British Library

Geography and Environment

• Geographical Association
• Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots

History

• Teachit History
• Historical Association
• School History

Languages

• Teachit Languages Free membership available until end of April 2020

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), including DT and Computing

• Teachit Science Free membership available until end of April 2020
• Teachit Maths Free membership available until end of April 2020
• STEM Learning
• Scratch
• BBC micro:bit
• Raspberry Pi
• BP Educational Service
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• British Science Week
• CREST Awards
• Royal Academy of Engineering

Wiltshire Council is launching a series of 'Ask the Athlete' weekly video broadcasts that will feature on the Active Wiltshire Facebook page.

All athletes featured are past and present Wiltshire Council Funding Future Olympians and Paralympians grant recipients. These include former British rhythmic gymnast champion Francesca Fox, Olympic skeleton bob silver medalist Shelley Rudman and Paralympic gold medalist Jennifer Kehoe MBE as well as Tokyo 2021 hopefuls Tom Gale and Dan Bethell.

'Ask an Athlete' will give you an opportunity to send in questions to your favourite sporting stars as well as seeing them participate in interactive challenges - will our athletes be able to rise to the challenge they are set?

Each Friday Wiltshire Council will announce the next elite athlete to feature on 'Ask the Athlete' via the Active Wiltshire  Facebook page. You will then have until the following Monday to submit your questions for them on Facebook,  Twitter or via email, with the video broadcast on Thursday each week.

Watch all the videos to date on the Ask the Athlete playlist on the Wiltshire Council You Tube channel.