East Plean Primary School provides a temporary home for Plean's Strength and balance class

Active Stirling run a weekly strength & balance class as part of their Active Adults Community Fitness programme. This popular class is regularly attended by an average of twenty ladies every week, ranging from 69-94 years.

These vital sessions normally held in the Balfour Centre were at risk of being temporarily cancelled when the heating system broke down in the middle of January 2023.

Thanks to the invaluable partnership work and quick thinking of Laura Taylor, Physical Activity Inclusion Officer with Active Stirling, Sharon McGrouther, Stirling Community Development Officer, and Sylvia Kettrick, Health, and Wellbeing Officer with Stirling Council, East Plean Primary school was thrilled to help, and the class was relocated to a much-appreciated temporary home in the school hall. Some of the ladies who live in Plean, had never been inside the school and were excited to be able to visit the school while continuing their class. The heating was promptly fixed at The Balfour Centre and the class was moved to the school for two weeks on the 31 January and the 7 February 2023.

As a thank you to the ladies for continuing to attend during the disruption, Active Stirling provided the classes free of charge, and the class participants decided to club together to make a donation to the school, as a thank you for letting them use the hall. Two pupils, Alayna, and Ava were presented with the donation along with Sylvia Kettrick.

This is a great example of partnership working to find a solution to keep our Strength and Balance class running in Plean, during the temporary closure of the Balfour Centre. Some of the ladies that attend are in their eighties and nineties and the physical activity, and social engagement are so important in their lives, so it's great that with the help of Sylvia and Sharon a solution could be found.