With Chestermere’s population expanding on a consistent basis, there are always new people coming to our city that need to know what exciting things are going on and even those that have called Chestermere home for years, finding this information can be tricky. Questions are always popping up on social media asking about what activities and programs there are for kids and teens in our community or even where some buildings are like the library or recreation centre. Well, the City of Chestermere has just launched a great new resource that will make it very easy to find answers to those questions.
Katelyn Richards has been the Community Recreation Coordinator since May 2015 and decided to set off on a task of creating a user friendly tool to point people in the right direction when looking for recreation options for the children and teens in our community. Although the site is mostly gauged for ages 0-18, many of the groups that are now listed on the site also have activities and events for adults as well.
Richards contacted over fifty groups in Chestermere in the areas of sports, activities, dance and many more and asked them to complete a survey that asked questions about what their organization, who they serve and what help they needed. “With around 30 surveys completed, 75%-80% of the organizations reported that they serve kids and youth so we knew that is where the need was. There was also a resounding response stating that these groups needed to get their name out and a way to tell the community about what they are all about”.
So with that, ‘Be Active Chestermere’ was created. Be Active Chestermere is the communities new guide for local children and youth programs. These recreation opportunities are provided by local recreation clubs, and is proudly supported and compiled by the City of Chestermere. On this new site you will find a variety of programs around Chestermere such as yoga for youth, skating opportunities, martial arts programs and more.
With the tag line ‘Be Inspired, Be Engaged’ Be Active Chestermere is a full service website, that also is mobile device friendly, who’s main focus is on children and youth programs but also to expand in the future to feature adult and seniors’ programming and services.
This easy to use website has a listing of recreation facilities with contact information and maps, and tabs for everything from skating, to martial arts, to preschool programs and much much more. The site event provides an interactive map which shows the many pathways, parks and other places of interests that are in our city. There is also a Support Services page that kids vital information from the Jumpstart program and Kidsport so that all children of Chestermere can play.
“I chose ‘Be Active Chestermere’ even though it sounds like more of the physical activities, but more because we consider being active also being engaged in the community so it’s physical activity, arts and culture, preschool programs all focused around children ages 0-18”, says Richards.
To check out the website and see all the recreation and social programming that Chestermere has to offer, you can visit www.beactivechestermere.com
Feel like you’re missing out, if you offer programming that you feel meets what this website is all about, you’re encouraged to complete the ‘Contact Us’ form at www.beactivechestermere.com/#!about-us/oym95
