Citizens of Pictou County have every reason to be active this winter. All you need is a library card.
“It’s all about making it easier for people to choose physical activity in their daily life,” said Sally O’Neill.
O’Neill is a municipal physical activity leader and coordinator for Active Pictou County. With her leadership, APC has partnered with Pictou County Libraries and 3 local fitness centers to bring people the Fun Fit Pass.
The Fun Fit Pass is a membership pass which families or individuals can take out at the library for a two-week period.
“Like you would a book,” said O’Neill. “You can take it out yourself and that would be fine, but if you have a family then the same card would cover everyone.”
There are five cards currently in circulation. 3 of the passes are for the Pictou County YMCA, and there is also one for True Potential Fitness and the Pictou Fisheries Training Pool.
Fun Fit Passes are available at any Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library.
“It’s been well-received by all members of the public,” said O’Neill. Highlighting the demand is a long waiting list for the passes and O’Neill is currently applying for funding from the Department of Communities Culture and Heritage for additional funding to buy more passes.
In a provincial report released Nov. 2018 entitled Let’s Get Moving NS, a lot of emphasis is placed on giving Nova Scotians more equitable access to facilities and programs that encourage exercise.
Equity differs from equality in that the quality of assistance changes depending on the needs of a certain individual or group, rather than giving everyone the same kind of help across the board. For instance, a person with a disability would need a fundamentally different sort of assistance than someone who is able bodied.
"Sally has done her work around this to provide access to recreational activities that are barrier-free,” said Trecia Schell, Vice-President of the Atlantic Provinces Library Association.
“It’s been super awesome to see people come and try it out.”
There are people who have a harder time accessing these services than others.
“Specifically, we know from research and stats that there are groups of people that have more barriers,” said O’Neill.
According to the Government of Canada, the number-one social determinant of health is a person’s income and social status. And while, the fun fit pass is a program for everyone, O’Neill and the program’s partners hope that it helps raise the tide for everyone in the community.
