South Hams and West Devon Councils in partnership with registered charity, Fusion Lifestyle, are delighted to announce that children living in care and care leavers (up to the age of 25yrs) will again be offered free memberships to all Fusion Leisure centres in South Hams and West Devon throughout 2025/26.

The initiative, which aims to help children live healthier and more active lives is funded by SHDC and WDBC and supported by Devon County Council (DCC) Children and Young people Team. The scheme - initially introduced in early 2024 - is now rolling out again for a further two years and Fusion teams across Devon and South Hams are calling on all social workers in the area to spread the word and sign up.

Signing up to the scheme is very simple. There’s a letter for social workers to submit, along with an application to be completed by either the young person or foster carer, which will give access free swimming, gym and soft play facilities.

Anyone interested should contact Clare Bill at [email protected]

Commenting on the scheme, a foster carer using the facilities at the Meadowlands centre in Tavistock said ”We are so grateful for this scheme because without it, our children would not be able to have access to these vital leisure facilities nearly so often. With the children being able to book and safely attend swimming sessions by themselves has really built their independence and using the gym with their friends in the area, teaches them that exercise is important and can be a lot of fun!”.

Clare Bill from Fusion Lifestyle added: We are so pleased to be able to make this free offer to children in care again and are very thankful to the councils in West Devon and South Hams for providing the funding through to 2026. Fusion is very committed to making sport and exercise accessible to everyone and we hope to see lots of young people enjoying the facilities at our centres in the coming months”

Commenting on the scheme, Cllr Jane Elliott, West Devon Lead Member for Leisure, Health and Wellbeing, said: “I’m really proud of this free membership scheme for children in care and care leavers. It gives these children and young adults the opportunity to have fun, get fit and make friends. They can use the facilities when and how often they like, and it provides them with fantastic healthy activities.”

Cllr Julian Brazil, South Hams Executive Member for Community Services and Leisure, said: “Again, we are supporting this important wellbeing initiative for children in care and care leavers. To support free activities is crucial to enable exercise which we all know helps both mental health and overall physical wellbeing. In the current financial climate, it’s a real privilege to help and we’re delighted to work with Fusion to support this fantastic scheme.

“Here’s an example of councils working together to support those that need it most. We need to build on these partnerships.’