UK Active have awards for sports centres and people who make a healthier and more physically active nation. For UK Active awards 2019 an Abingdon sports centre and person are in the running for their awards.

The White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre is a finalist for two categories: Inclusion & Disability Award, and Southern UK Regional Club / Centre.

Viv Boorman (pictured here); is a finalist for Physical Activity Champion.

Viv began Abingdon Health Walks in 2003 after retiring from teaching. She recruited other people to help lead walks, beginning small with no funding. She started walks at The White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre with people mostly between 60 and 80 years old. What started with a small group has grown and grown.

You can read more on the UK Active awards 2019 site, and Vote for Viv.

In Albert Park in Abingdon hundreds of purple crocuses are growing.

They were planted in 2017 as part of the campaign undertaken by Rotary International to eradicate Polio in the world. The purple represents the purple ink mark put on children’s fingers after vaccination. This campaign has been sustained since 1985 by Rotary International and partners. In that time polio cases are down 99.9%.

Polio is a virus which affects children under five and causes paralysis and death. When I was young, back in the long and distant past, knowing people affected by the disease was quite common. Polio vaccinations were introduced in the mid-1950s and the disease was eradicated in the UK in the 1980s.

Heathy Abingdon is in the Community Free Space, Bury Street, Abingdon from 21st to 26th May for Dementia Action Week.  Lisa Thompson was there on behalf of the Alzheimer’s society.

During the week, various groups are present to talk to the public: the Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia Oxfordshire, Carers Oxfordshire, Daybreak, Stowford and Abingdon Court care homes, Soha Housing and Fiddle Fingers Quilts. Details are on the web site www.healthyabingdon.org.uk.

Healthy Abingdon was set up a year ago to bring together groups and individuals to find ways to improve health and wellbeing in the town. There are over 200 community groups in the town that contribute towards peoples health and wellbeing in various ways from physical exercise to keeping the mind active or just having fun.  Dave Butterworth, the Chair of Healthy Abingdon says, ‘It is all about helping people keep well, recover faster from illnesses and cope better with long-term problems. These are all activities that the voluntary sector does well and could do even better in partnership with the NHS and social care services.’

One of the projects that Healthy Abingdon has just started is to make Abingdon more Dementia Friendly which involves, amongst other things, signing up more Dementia Friends and helping those who deal with the public to be more understanding of the needs of those with dementia.

Mind in Abingdon is a charity working to improve the wellbeing of our community.

They will be holding a series of 6 free workshops in June and July which are open to anyone.

The Workshops are experiential and allow participants the opportunity to try out different holistic approaches to improve and enhance their sense of wellbeing.

On Saturday 19th May, Mind in Abingdon are taking part in Oxfordshire Artweeks. The exhibition Visions invites you to explore our artistic response to Visions: experiences, dreams, and hopes within our life journeys.