REPs Awards Ceremony
Thank You Party and Awards Ceremony
On Friday 21 May, Southampton Solent University (SSU) hosted a Thank You party and an Awards evening for exercise volunteers and students. The University runs a number of health-related exercise degrees which require students to work with real clients to gain experience working in special areas. These areas are Older Adults (50+ but preferably 60+) and people with chronic diseases and disabilities (exercise referral). The party gave the University an opportunity to thank its volunteer clients and award students with their nationally-recognised exercise qualifications. These qualifications enable students to gain entry to the national exercise instructor register known as the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs). Alongside their health and exercise degree programmes, students are given the opportunity to gain their REPs qualifications at a number of different levels and in different specialist areas. This helps students to gain confidence, develop their skills and enhance their employability.
Around a hundred volunteers, students and staff were present. Among the volunteer clients was Janet Findley who had been referred to the University’s programme by her Consultant at Southampton General Hospital. “It was wonderful being treated as a human being and not some elderly person with infirmities,” she said, “The student and you work as a team to understand your problems and how best they can help you.”
Each student was presented with his or her certificates by the Registrar of REPs, Jean-Ann Marnoch, who was delighted by the high standards students had achieved. She was full of praise for the University’s promotion of REPs and its vocational added-value for students. She said: “When choosing a university it’s important to choose one that embeds employability skills in its curriculum – Solent does that and it really makes a difference. Here, they give students access to real clients when studying specialist populations. That is a massive bonus.”
Two students who have benefitted from these skills are Michael Van Dongen, a first year student, and final year student, Ross Carter. “I really feel I am ahead of the game now,” said Michael, who gained several awards. “Here at Solent you don’t just gain knowledge, you gain experience and practical skills – you get to go out in the field on work placements, so when you start work you’re going to be really ready.” Ross agrees, “Getting to work with real clients and gaining these qualifications – that’s the best thing about it. Not many people have experience in specialist exercise populations, so gaining this skill is another big string to your bow.”
“Today gave the students the chance to say a big ‘thank you’ to their clients,” said Course Leader, Martin Skivington. “We have links with many specialist community groups which were set up by the tireless efforts of Senior Lecturer, Glynis Young. Glynis said, “We piloted this scheme some six years ago and it has grown in strength and reputation year on year. We could not do this without the support of partners in the community, for example, Dr Lisa Roberts, Consultant Physiotherapist at Southampton General Hospital, and members of BackCare and the Parkinson’s Disease Society, to name but a few. Volunteers from these groups come week after week and enable our students to gain invaluable knowledge in specialist exercise areas and we are very grateful to them.”
If you want to know more about our courses or how you might become a volunteer, please contact glynis.young@solent.ac.uk|