An Aberystwyth woman has been recognised by the Sports Council for Wales for her A-grade efforts to get youngsters at Penglais Comprehensive School and Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig fit and active.

Catrin Jones, 24, sprinted to the Officer of the Month award for August – an accolade handed out by the Sports Council’s 5x60 scheme which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and run locally by Ceredigion County Council.

The award comes hot on the heels of another accolade she collected earlier this year – the Sports Council named Penglais as the School of the Month for April.

5x60 aims to get secondary school children who usually prefer to stay on the sporting sidelines more active, more often and the scheme is scoring high marks. In fact, 99% of mainstream schools in Wales have now signed up.

Although school’s now out for summer, Jones is busy working, planning and preparing for next term:

"There were around 22 different activities available to the children at both schools last year. I hope to increase that number next term so that we can give them even more opportunities and new experiences.

"The most popular 5x60 sports are bench ball, hip hop and 5-a-side football. Without this scheme, a lot of the children would not have had the opportunity to take part in activities such as climbing, hip hop and mountain biking."

Jones has also worked closely with the Learning Support Centre to provide yoga sessions for pupils.

Jones has attracted almost 40% of its pupils to take part in 5x60 activities at the schools. She adds, "Pupils often stop me with suggestions about other sports sessions and ideas, which is great and very productive. There is a real buzz and excitement about these sessions and the number of children participating year on year is significantly increasing."

Deanna, Amy and Megan, year seven and eight pupils at Penglais School, add:

"The 5x60 clubs are the best clubs we’ve ever had at the school. You can play with your mates and it’s so much fun. We love bench ball so much, it’s really cool."

Jones is just one of the motivators recruited by the Sports Council for Wales’ 5x60 scheme which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The scheme, which started as a pilot project in Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig in January 2007, has now expanded into all seven secondary schools in Ceredigion.

Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, Philip Carling, said:

"One of the winning formulas behind 5x60 is that pupils can take part in physical activity during lunchtimes and after school. The challenge now is to open the school doors for 5x60 at weekends and in school holidays. Success stories like Penglais and Penweddig lay the foundations for the Sports Council for Wales’ long term objective to ensure that as many of these youngsters as possible go on to live healthy adult lives."

Pupils are invited to visit www.5x60.org.uk and to nominate their officer.