HEALTHY living is alive and well in Waverley, with several sports and leisure achievements in 2007, paving the way for a successful 2008. Waverley currently has the highest number of sports clubs in Surrey who have gained accreditation. Amateur sports clubs are encouraged to take an increasingly professional approach to their activities and are encouraged to undergo Clubmark Accreditations with their national governing body or local authority. Roger Steel, Waverley's portfolio holder for leisure, explained: "The scheme evaluates the clubs' activities and ensures that they are providing a high quality service. In order to achieve this, clubs have to meet stringent criteria, which requires a lot of organisation and work on the part of the club. "Twenty-three clubs in Waverley have now been awarded at least the first level of the accreditation, with many more waiting in the wings," added Mr Steel Waverley's leisure centres demonstrated overall 'continuous improvement' as part of the QUEST (quality) accreditation external assessment process in 2007. The Edge in Haslemere, which was being assessed for the first time, scored 70 per cent – the first time a leisure centre in Surrey has achieved a 'commended' score on a first attempt.   The Herons leisure centre and Farnham Sports Centre also showed big improvements from their previous assessments. Waverley has been the first district in Surrey to implement and promote the Sport England initiative for community sport networks, to be known as 'Active Waverley'. This involves working together with a wide range of organisations to increase participation in sport and physical activity for both adults and children as well as widening access to facilities activities and events. Waverley has also been the first district in Surrey to launch the Sport England initiative 'Active People' and it is hoped the campaign will motivate many more people in the borough to take up sport and physical activity in 2008 through the slogan 'more people, more active, more often'. The key according to organisers is for people to find activities that they enjoy and that suit their lifestyle. Waverley is, according to Sport England, the only district in the UK to support four local sports councils, one in each of the main population centres of the borough. One of the local sports councils, Sport Godalming, has launched an initiative called 'Go for Gold' to raise bursaries for talented young sports stars aiming to do well at the London 2012 Olympics – this is grabbing the attention of the sports world outside of Waverley. Mr Steel added: "Waverley now enjoys a wonderful record of achievments in sport and sports participation and this is a result of the work of the clubs, the leisure centres, and the dedicated team of Waverley Sports Officers who work closely with them. "Our administration is committed to providing sports and leisure facilities of a high standard and at an affordable price and this year will see the introduction of an exciting capital investment programme to improve and add to our leisure centres. "In this day and age, when obesity rates in the UK have quadrupled over the past 25 years and 17 per cent of children under 15 are considered obese, we have a twin role – to applaud and encourage the talented sports people but also to encourage every family to participate in some exercise each week and to do that we must help to make it an enjoyable experience." If you would like any information on these or any other sports initiatives in the borough, contact Christina Hales on 01483 523368 or email [email protected]">[email protected] .uk