A CAMPAIGN has been launched to inspire people to increase their physical activity to improve their quality of life.

Active St Eds – which is supported by St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Suffolk County Council, NHS Suffolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust – was launched yesterday at Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre. It is hoped the campaign will leave a lasting legacy from this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It will feature 10 individuals or families on posters across Bury and Haverhill leisure centres, which are run by Abbeycroft Leisure, and a film to inspire others to fit physical activity into their lives.

People will be able to collect points every time they take part in an activity at the leisure centres or at one of Abbeycroft’s events in the community. Every 100 points will be equivalent to 75p which can be redeemed against high street shops online. Abbeycroft members will be able to collect points on their current leisure card.

Sports clubs, schools, colleges and businesses across St Edmundsbury will be able to collect points to use as a group or organisation. A competition is being launched in January for the most active business and school, based on the points collected.

The focus of the campaign is the quality-of-life benefits of physical activity such as exercise to improve stress management, chronic conditions such as back pain and diabetes and social benefits.

Warren Smyth, chief executive of Abbeycroft Leisure, said: “In this Olympic year Abbeycroft wants to inspire people in the borough to start some form of physical activity and understand that the benefits of exercise go beyond the traditional reasons of losing weight and inches.

“We hope the wonderful stories from people who live in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill on how exercise has benefited them and their lives will inspire others in their community to start something to keep active.”

He added how they hoped the Active Points scheme would further encourage people to keep active.

At www.acleisure.com/active-st-eds there are stories from people in the borough whose lives have been improved by physical activity, tips for keeping active, articles by healthcare experts and details on how to sign up for a leisure card to collect points.