RBC’s Learn-to-Play grant will help make Aurora youth more active

January 6, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Aurora is one step closer to achieving its goal of becoming the most active community in Canada – thanks to a special boost from the Royal Bank.

The Town received an early Christmas gift from RBCs Learn-to-Play project in the form of a $21,615 grant to provide fun and active programs within the community.

“The grant from the RBC Learn-to-Play project will provide much needed funds to promote sports and physical activity amongst our youth,” said Mayor Geoff Dawe in a statement. “The funds will help us develop programs to engage and encourage youth to get moving and join sporting programs. It is a great step to encourage healthy and active living in our community.”

The grant money will go into the development of seven programs that fall under the banner of Activate Aurora, the working group established between the Town of Aurora and groups like Sport Aurora to achieve this ambitious active goal.

These include a communications plan to build awareness of Activate Aurora, the creation of a PLAY Day targeted towards area students, the launch of a Quality Daily Physical Activity Program and a Safe-Walk-to-School project to teach physical literacy, a Healthy Eating for Kids program to bolster youngsters’ nutritional knowledge, training programs for coaches, parents, high school students on physical activity and literacy within their own homes and on the playgrounds, and the development of a “mini-summit” of physical literacy professionals.

Aurora is one of 199 organizations from across the country to receive a grant for the 2015 calendar year. RBC and the Public Health Agency of Canada, in partnership with ParticipACTION have committed $2 million in RBC Learn-to-Play Project grants to help community-based organizations and build and deliver quality sport and recreation programs.

The funding will also focus on building programs addressing a lack of physical activity in youth and tackling head-on declining participation in sports.
Aurora hopes to be “Canada’s Most Active Community” by 2020.