Edition number 77; dateline 5 November 2013
Cricket comes to the confessional
It seems that the Vatican has finally bowed to the inevitable and embraced the concept of cricket as a force for ecumenical good. St Peter’s Cricket Club, as the Holy See’s latest sporting grouping has been titled, will be able to draw on some 250-plus potential members, most of whom are seminarians and clerics from cricket-playing nations. A pitch has been made available near Rome’s Ciampino airport and a tracksuit, featuring the traditional white and gold of the papal wardrobe, has been designed. With these essentials out of the way, the club wasted no time in expressing a hope that one day they might be able to play at Lord’s. The phrase “and give the Church of England a right good hiding” was left unsaid but clearly implied.
Study points to benefits of low-intensity exercise
A study by the Karolinska University hospital’s department of medicine, reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, has added further data to the discussion of the long-term health benefits of low-level physical activities in comparison with more intense exercise. The study of almost 4,000 people aged 60-plus in Stockholm suggests that regular gardening or DIY activities can cut the risk of heart attack or stroke and prolong life by as much as 30%. These health benefits were found to be similar to those of a group of retired people who trained for marathons. At the start of the study those individuals who had an active daily lifestyle were found to be at less risk of heart attacks than those with low levels of daily activity. Over the course of the 12-year study the benefits of regular physical activity were found to continue.
Tax avoidance “tip of the iceberg”
The quietly impressive work of the Commons public accounts committee continues under the leadership of the quietly impressive Margaret Hodge. Questioning officials from HM Revenues and Customs, Hodge challenged the HMRC’s performance in pursuing non-payment of taxes, suggesting that the official estimate of a £35 billion gap between what is paid and what should be collected is the “tip of an iceberg”. HMRC officials conceded that this tax gap does include money earned in the UK by Google, Amazon and Starbucks; and that the chancellor’s highly publicised decision to pursue taxable income held by UK residents in Swiss banks has brought in £440 million this year, some way short of the £3 billion-plus included in the chancellor’s budgetary planning.
New Water Babies clothing range: Konfidence and quality
Water Babies, the world’s largest baby swim school, has launched a new range of swimwear specifically designed for babies and toddlers taking the plunge. Developed with swimwear designers and manufacturers Konfidence, the new range includes baby wetsuits, swim nappies, sun suits and buoyancy jackets. Steve Franks, managing director of Water Babies and long-term friend of The Leisure Review, explained that the two companies had spent months researching, developing and testing the range. “We’ve worked together to create a first-class swimming range that we are proud of,” he said. “We know that the attention to detail, our knowledge of what makes a difference to parents and babies, and the use of the best materials means that this range is of the highest quality.” The range will be sold exclusively through Water Babies.
New programme for new swim academy
Hot on the heels of news from the world’s largest baby swim school comes details of a new swim academy from the world’s largest swimming teaching and lifesaving organisation. The Swimming Teachers’ Association is working in partnership with Tempus Leisure, which manages Cornwall’s leisure services on behalf of the local council, and STA will be providing learn-to-swim programmes at four sites in November. Titled the STA Tempus Swim Academy, the new academy will be introducing a single teaching system and a standardised programme for swimming lessons across these sites.
Inspiration aspiration for community-use facilities
Meanwhile, within pedalling distance of the dreaming spires, Oxford Spires Academy is developing plans to expand the community use of its school facilities. This exploration of options comes in the context of Oxford City Council plans to close Temple Cowley Pools as part of a rationalisation of facilities across the city. The Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy has been appointed by Oxford Spires to help the academy consider its role in
local community access to leisure facilities as part of strategic coverage across the city. Headteacher Sue Croft said, “We are committed to building on our strong community use ethos and have identified the need for new health and fitness facilities, which both students and the community can benefit from. We are looking forward to working with SLC to support us in developing an integrated approach to community-use facility development at Oxford Spires to provide good-value, high-quality opportunities for even more members of the local community.”
Love Parks, end litter
It may be worth noting that The Leisure Review letters page, a recherché exercise in nuance in a world of certainty, recently added a letter from the Parks Alliance wondering at the opportunities for investment in parks and parks services in comparison with the ongoing expense of clearing the nation’s streets of litter. This item of correspondence, which discusses raising the profile of parks and the need to recognise the huge multiplier effect of parks maintenance and investment, follows a recent TLR article wondering at the future for parks and for parks and open space managers in the current political climate.
Clubmark under new management
News from Sport England reveals that Clubmark, the quality mark scheme for sports clubs across the country, is to be managed by Sport England in-house. The government’s sports development agency also reveals that this arrangement is for an interim period only before Clubmark becomes part of Club Support, “the one-stop shop for clubs and volunteers”. This is all expected to have happened by 31 March 2014. While the world of sport considered the implications of this development, Sport England were at pains to record their appreciation of the efforts of KKP, the consultancy that had managed Clubmark until this departure, noting “[KKP’s] dedication over the past seven and a half years, in particular [the fact that] KKP have been instrumental in the significant growth of accredited clubs during this time”.
Rouleur tackles the centenary Tour
The good people at Rouleur magazine have marked the 100th running of the Tour de France by dedicating their annual hard-back to the race that saw Chris Froome join the pantheon of the maillot jaune. In pursuit of its own inimitable take on the machinations of the professional peloton, Rouleur dispatched seven writers and seven photographers to capture their own impressions of the Tour, with each focusing on three specific stages. At the time of going to press we were still poring over the pages with a view to a review for the December edition of The Leisure Review but suffice it to say that if you know Rouleur, you know what to expect. The strapline for this weighty offering of bike-related art and conjecture is “3404 kilometres, 21 stages, 21 stories”. We should perhaps add “304 pages, 3.5kg and 40 quid” for those planning their Christmas lists.
Nick Reeves: in memoriam
Another quick reminder that a memorial service to remember and celebrate the life of the much-missed Mr Reeves will be held at
St Paul’s Cathedral in London at 11am on Tuesday 19 November.
The pyschology of cinematic popcorn
An article in the Journal of Consumer Psychology describes a research project undertaken by the University of Cologne in which people watching film advertising were given popcorn while they watched the ads. The researchers were apparently able to conclude that chewing interferes with a person’s “inner speech”, with which viewers are thought to mimic the sound and pronunciation of a new brand name when they see it. This inner speech process makes the ads register with an audience and chewing negates, at least partially, this impact. The research sample numbered only 96, which already puts it into the field of bad science, but keep an eye on your local cinema to see whether the popcorn begins to disappear.
Low-impact activity and health: the debate continues
A University of Ulster study has called into question the validity of housework as part of an active lifestyle. The research questioned 4,563 adults about their physical activity and found that those who listed “domestic physical activity” as a “signficant proportion of moderate to vigorous physical activity” also happened to be the largest in terms of weight. Professor Marie Murphy said, “We found housework was inversely related to leanness, which suggests that either peopple are overestimating the amount of moderate-intensity physical activty they do through housework or are eating too much to compensate for the… physical activity undertaken.” Kevin Fenton, health director at Public Health England, which includes housework among the activities that can contribut to the recommended target of 150 minutes of physical activity a week, commented that the study may reinforce evidence that people tend to overestimate their own levels of physical activity and their own physical condition.
Bound for South Australia; and not Sunderland
It seems that the ship City of Adelaide, a sea-going near contemporary of the Cutty Sark, is likely to find a permanent berth in South Australia rather than Sunderland as Wearside campaigners had hoped. The clipper is scheduled to complete its journey to Australia by May 2014, where it will be welcomed by a consortium that has to date spent some Aus$6 million getting the project off the ground, or rather out of the water. In Sunderland campaigners had hoped to be able to raise the necessary funds and support to bring the ship back to the city in which it was launched in 1864, making it a focal point for a restoration project that would “create desperately needed training and apprenticeship opportunities for our young people”. The City of Adelaide was scheduled to leave Chatham docks, its current home, and head for Australia at the end of October.
