Southwest Queensland’s largest regional centre, Roma, is building a healthy and fit local community through Active Roma, an exciting partnership between Local, State
and Federal organisations, including the Australian Sport’s Commission’s Active After-school Communities program.
Active Roma has delivered a range of valuable health activities and events to the town over the past two years. It has also carried out extensive consultation projects with the local community, which are helping the group to develop further exciting initiatives to keep locals healthy and active.
The Active Roma partnership is a beneficial synergy of health and physical activity resources from Maranoa Regional Council (formerly Roma Regional Council), Queensland Health, the Australian Sports Commission’s Active After-school Communities program, Disability Services Queensland and Maranoa Health. Queensland Department of Sport and Recreation representatives are also part of the program.
Director of Community Sport at the Australian Sports Commission, Judy Flanagan, is excited about the benefits of Active Roma’s partnership with the Active After-school Communities program.
“Active Roma is an excellent example of the benefits of partnership and we encourage all councils to make the most of the Active After-school Communities program in their area,” she said.
“The Australian Sports Commission’s Active After-school Communities program is a national program. However, at a local level, the program is a success because it adapts to a community’s needs and seeks to work with the other stakeholders in the region.”
A great example of the benefits of the Active Roma partnership to the local community is the Active Parks project.
Active Roma used a Sport and Recreation Queensland grant to provide free physical activities in local facilities and parks, which were hugely successful. The grant also helped the group purchase a large sports equipment kit, which is housed in the town library. Anyone in Roma with a library card can now walk in and hire a range of sports equipment.
The Active Roma group has also purchased a transportable five lane indoor bowling kit that the whole community can access, free of charge. Schools, youth services and after school care centres across the region regularly make use of the kit.
Additionally, a wide range of development and community consultation projects covering nutrition, physical activity and healthy lifestyle options have been undertaken by Active Roma. The group has also started the Community Action Workshop, which is working to progress recommendations from the consultations.
“We are all trying to do the same thing –
get our community active and healthy – so it was common sense to form a partnership and work on some projects together,” said Maranoa Regional Council CEO Stuart Randle.
To find out what your community can gain from a partnership with the Australian Sports Commission’s Active After-school Communities program, contact your State or Territory office listed at www.ausport.gov.au/aasc
*Copy supplied by Australian Sports Commission
