CHILDREN and their parents were encouraged to be active at an event that ran throughout Basingstoke town centre, including the Top of the Town.

The Be Active in Basingstoke event, organised by Basingstoke Together, took place on Friday, 17 August, and saw lots of children get involved in various events that encouraged them to get active.

There was a penalty shoot out, connect 4, arts and crafts, yoga, and a Star Wars-inspired Jedi training event.

As well as that, children could see the results of their efforts with a bicycle that was hooked up to a blender, which blended a healthy fruit smoothie from a bout of furious pedalling. The cycling effort was organised by the Basingstoke Sports Trust, and many other local companies and organisations getting involved and running events.

Lucy Boazman, chief executive of Basingstoke Together, said: “We loved seeing so many people of all ages at Be Active trying out new sports and meeting the local sportspeople from Basingstoke’s rugby and football teams.

“Events like this really enforce the sense of community here in Basingstoke with residents, visitors and the businesses coming together for family fun on our doorstep.

“Our events are designed to encourage visitors to explore all areas of the town centre so it was great to see everywhere so busy.

“Basingstoke has so much to offer and we hope to run more events like this in the future to give our town the chance to show what is has to offer.”

Altynay Cooper, who took her two children along, said: “Be Active was absolutely brilliant. My children enjoyed it massively and so did I - I was absolutely exhausted after five hours of fun. There was a great variety of activities with all sorts of sports represented - my children’s favourite was the climbing wall which they wanted to do again and again.

“There were lots of children of all ages enjoying the event, I hope that there will be even more events like this in Basingstoke in the future.”