WHEN I was at school my favourite lessons in the week were PE – I particularly relished any opportunity to go outside and run around.

But not all my classmates were as enthusiastic as that and some would have done almost anything to avoid what they considered to be weekly sessions of torture.

Of course, everyone is different but we all know how important it is for all of us to have some physical activity to stimulate both our bodies and minds.

That is why it is important to make sure fun is a big factor in sports and other physical activities for young children. After all who can resist a good helping of fun – even if it does mean running around or kicking a ball.

And that is what Andy Beeston and his team at Football Fun Camps prioritise when they run PE sessions in schools and holiday camps in Worcester.

Andy, who lives in Bromsgrove and went to Worcester Sixth Form College, took a degree in sports coaching at the University of Wales in Cardiff and immediately started work for a company in Cardiff providing PE in schools and running holiday camps.

He moved to New Jersey in the USA doing the same sort of work – gaining experience in a range of different sports as well as management – before returning to Worcestershire eight years later.

He says he just had a feeling to come back to the UK but did not have any firm plans and, after a short spell of working for a company running PE lessons and holiday camp when he was also able to do a number of Football Association coaching courses, an opportunity came up he did not want to miss.

“A friend of a friend introduced me to the owner of Football Fun Camps – a multi sports coaching company – who was looking for someone to work with them in the summer and then it came out that she was leaving and wondered if I wanted to take it over,” said Andy.

“Everything made sense. I knew why I had come back – one door closes and another door opens.”

Andy took over last summer and, he and his team of four coaches, work with about 10 schools in Worcester delivering PE lessons directly to primary school children aged four to eight years-old; they also give teachers the chance to observe them in lessons so they can learn the techniques to teach PE themselves; and they run a range of after school clubs holiday camps for five to 12-year-olds.

Some of the clubs and holiday camps focus purely on football and others are multi sports offering a wide range of sports and games including tennis, tag rugby, kwik cricket, basketball and athletics as well as fun activities like the American dodgeball, kickball, benchball, ga-ga (a version of dodgeball) and a game called Capture the Flag.

“Quite a lot of schools are getting us to teach PE and sometimes we go in to help train teachers to take PE. We still run the PE sessions but the teachers watch so they can learn and how to do it and do the lessons themselves,” explained Andy.

“We do after school clubs at some of the schools where we also do the PE lessons and these can be just football or tennis, or they can be a number of different sports and activities. We are trying to expose children to a range of different sports.

“A lot of the games are very much about having fun rather than in depth coaching. We want them to have fun so that the children are enjoying themselves playing games and they are learning the fundamentals like hand-eye co-ordination, balance and speed.

“It is all about fun and enjoyment as well as learning the skills of sports like football and tennis. It is our job to make sure they leaving smiling and that is the same with the holiday camps.”

All the holiday camps are held at Hollymount School, off Tunnel Hill in Worcester. Andy said unlike the school PE sessions which only last 45 minutes to an hour, the children attending the holiday camps are there for six hours a day. Visit http://footballfuncamps.weebly.com/ for more details.

The children get a chance to experience many different aspects of the games and sports and, as well as playing them, they might also learn about tactics. “We do a bit of tactical work with them and engage them in tactical challenges to expand their knowledge of the games. We introduce a range of new things but we still make it fun and enjoyment.”

Andy stressed that an important part of their work is helping to build confidence in those attending. “They work as individuals, in small groups and teams. They get the chance to be a leader and a follower. They are building their communications skills and their leadership skills and it is fun to watch them grow and develop their personality at a young age.”

Football Fun Camps has also joined the Children’s University (CU), which is hosted by the University of Worcester in this area.

Youngsters can join the Children’s University – an international charity which encourages youngster to try new experiences, develop new interests and acquire new skills by taking part in innovative and creative activities outside school. Visit the CU website to get more details.

The aim is to raise their aspirations, self-esteem and confidence, encourage curiosity and learning, enhance motivation, introduce new experiences and offer progression in learning and personal skills.

Children get a passport to learning from the CU and every time they attend a CU learning destination, like a school club or holiday camp, it is recorded and eventually they attend a ceremony at the University of Worcester where they are awarded with bronze, silver, gold and gold fellowship awards.

For more information visit http://www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/Worcestershire-cu/