Families meet Sport Whanganui activity challenge

Justin Gush's whānau chose martial arts for their fourth Active Families activity. Photo / supplied

Whanganui families took up a Sport Whanganui challenge to get active in July and went into a draw to win a prize pack.

The Active Families challenge was put out in conjunction with the Durie Hill Tower centenary (climbing it was one of the activities) and the July school holidays, Sport Whanganui health manager Deb Byers said.

About 10 families registered and had to participate together in four activities - climbing the tower, walking the Whanganui bridges, walking around Rotokawau/Virginia Lake and a fourth activity of their choice.

The fourth activity provoked some wonderful responses, Byers said.

For some families it was Saturday sport, one joined together in delivery pamphlets and the Gush whānau did martial arts training.

The families provided photographs to prove what they had done, and the prize pack included Splash Centre and Subway vouchers.

Active Families is a Health Ministry programme and one of three delivered by Sport Whanganui. It aims to get families active together, and improve their choices of food and drink.

"We wanted a catalyst to get people to use events in Whanganui to be active, and also to use the lovely local walkways and venues that we've got. There are some fabulous places and it doesn't have to cost anything," Byers said.

July is over but people can still get involved in Active Families by going to the Sport Whanganui website or emailing deb@sportwhanganui.co.nz.