Fife has become one of the first areas in Scotland to implement a new Scottish Government initiative which will see £42 million invested nationally over five years to expand weight management interventions and support a new approach to diet and healthy weight.

As the area’s leading provider of sports and leisure services, we, in partnership with Fife Health and Social Care Partnership, have been chosen to deliver the intervention programme Get Moving with Counterweight. The move comes following a successful trial in the Lothians with Fife and the Borders receiving funding to expand the model. The charitable trust is delivering Get Moving with Counterweight in its leisure centres with the potential of some community-based venues too.

The funding being allocated is part of the trust’s collaboration with the East of Scotland: Prevention and Remission of Type 2 Diabetes Programme and follows publication of the Scottish Government’s Framework for the Prevention, Early Detection and Early Intervention of Type 2 Diabetes in July 2018.

Fiona Prendergast, wellbeing and programming manager for Fife Sports and Leisure Trust, said: “The launch of the trust’s involvement in this national initiative is very welcome. The trust has a well-established reputation in delivering award-winning health and wellbeing programmes and the Counterweight programme complements the trust’s wider programmes designed to support people living with long-term health conditions.

“Participants in Counterweight are referred by their GP and take part in sessions over an 12-week period which will allow for regular weigh-ins and supported, instructor-led physical activity opportunities. Our work on other health programmes has shown that participants who increase their physical activity experience the associated health and wellbeing benefits of getting more active, as well as moral support from people experiencing similar health conditions.”

For further information, visit the Health and Wellbeing section on our website