Keep Active Kids program

TWEED SHIRE councillors James Owen and Rhiannon Brinsmead are calling on the NSW Government to continue funding the Active Kids, Creative Kids, and First Laps programs in their current form.

Cr Owen moved a notice of motion at the June 22 council meeting requesting that the NSW Government continue to fund these programs in what he said was vital support for Tweed Shire families.

The notice of motion, which passed with unanimous support, resolved for council to write to several ministers, including the NSW Premier, requesting the continuation of state funding for the funding of the active programs to continue.

The NSW Government has already offered a lifeline to the popular Active Kids vouchers program, but will now means- est the program.

The current Active Kids and Creative Kids vouchers will be extended from July 1, 2023, until February 1, 2024, but the vouchers will be reduced to $50 for school-aged children..

“The Active Kids, Creative Kids and First Lap programs have made a significant contribution to our community since their introduction and taking them away now will not be good for Tweed Shire families or their household budgets,” Cr Owen said.

“These important programs have had a really positive impact on the Tweed Shire community since their implementation in 2018 and have been well utilised with increased participation rates in sport and creative endeavours.”

Cr Brinsmead said the vouchers provide “essential financial assistance to families” to enable children’s participation in sports, creative arts, and swimming programs.

“We believe that continued state government funding for these programs is vital for the well-being and development of children in our local community,” she said.

“The Active Kids vouchers not only support families but also our local sporting clubs by making it more financially viable for parents and carers to sign their children up to play sport.

“Taking these vouchers away could see a decline in membership numbers for clubs that are already finding it harder and harder to attract new participants. Tweed Shire Council’s Community Strategic Plan states that we want our community to be ‘healthy and active’ and that we will do whatever we can to promote and enable healthy, active, and creative lifestyles.”