MonLife One Year Anniversary

One year on, during these difficult times, we are closer than ever!

And what a 1st year this has been…

“On behalf of myself and my MonLife colleagues, I would like to thank you for being part of our first year since our launch in 2020. We have been humbled and amazed at your continued enthusiasm and support and having received such positive feedback across our wide ranging services, we look forward to seeing you all again as and when Welsh Government confirm it is safe to do so. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the MonLife team who have worked tirelessly during the last 12 months to support our customers and communities and I know they will continue to do so in the future. ” Ian Saunders, Chief Operating Officer.

In 2021, we will continue to keep our customers at the heart of everything we do and will carry on improving our offer to benefit your health and wellbeing. We continue to explore new opportunities to ensure that you can carry on with your wellbeing journey at home.

We have a fantastic NEW product that will allow MonLife members to carry on training with their favourite instructors and participants they know from their homes with the NEW MonLife LIVE & ON-DEMAND membership. This membership will give you an exciting Virtual Live group and personal fitness experience. Please click HERE for further information.

You can also explore MonLife Countryside by staying local for exercise with members of your household/support bubble.  Please visit https://www.visitmonmouthshire.com/things-to-do/walking-in-monmouthshire.aspx# for further information. 

To keep up to date, follow our social media accounts, like our Facebook Page, follow our Twitter account and subscribe to our Youtube Channel. We also have a MonLife App – click HERE to download.

Stay Home to save lives and protect our NHS.

We hope you all had a safe and healthy Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year!

We’re Making The Comeback

MonLife Active

We are pleased to announce that all 4 Leisure Centres are now open, this includes the gym, swimming pool and group exercise classes as well as swimming lessons. For further information please click on the Active section at the top of this page to view the individual Leisure Centres.

MonLife Heritage

We are delighted to announce that we are reopening our museum in Abergavenny and Chepstow from 18^th May, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays between 11am and 4pm. We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to get our museum and shop ready to welcome you all back through our doors! We cannot wait to see you all!

Please note Monmouth Museum remains closed whilst we continue to work on the collections.

• There is no need to book ahead of your visit, you can simply walk in.
• Please be aware that we will be limiting the number of visitors allowed in the museum at any one time.
• Visitors will need to wear a mask or face covering and follow social distancing whilst in the museum.
• Hand sanitiser will be provided at various points throughout the museum.
• Visitors will be required to fill in a contact Track & Trace form – all of which are in accordance to Welsh Government Covid guidelines.
• Where possible please use card to purchase goods.

Abergavenny Castle grounds will be open daily to the public between 11am and 4pm.

We are also please to announce that Old Station Tintern is now open!

Please see the individual venue and service pages on the website for detailed information.

MonLife Outdoors

Countryside Access sites and public rights of way remain open for use.  For a safe and enjoyable visit please follow the guidance and rules which are found here

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Our staff, as well as the community, are our priority and we would like to thank you for the support that you have shown MonLife over these last few months.  We have received the most amazing feedback from our customers.

To keep up to date, follow our social media accounts, like our Facebook Page, follow our Twitter account and subscribe to our Youtube Channel.  We also have a MonLife App – click HERE to download.

If you have an enquiry regarding your MonLife membership then please email monmemberships@monmouthshire.gov.uk or call 01633 644499.

As a valued customer we would like to thank you for your continued support and look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Stay Safe 

The 2020 Green Flag UK People Choice Award: Caldicot Castle & Country Park

Caldicot Castle is set within 55 acres of idyllic Country Park. Founded by the Normans, developed in royal hands as a stronghold in the Middle Ages and restored as a Victorian family home, the castle has a romantic and colourful history. Travel through time from a medieval castle to a Victorian mansion.

The Green Flag Award® scheme recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

The Green Flag Award’s Purpose & Aims

• To ensure that everybody has access to quality green and other open spaces, irrespective of where they live.
• To ensure that these spaces are appropriately managed and meet the needs of the communities that they serve.
• To establish standards of good management.
• To promote and share good practice amongst the green space sector.
• To recognise and reward the hard work of managers, staff and volunteers.

We would like to invite you to vote for Caldicot Castle & Country Park in the 2020 Green Flag UK People Choice Award. To vote, click here: https://www.greenflagaward.org/park-summary/?park=2143

Get Creative: Make Decoration This Halloween

Make a Vampire Hallowe’en Decoration

You will need:

• Vampire template
• 1 A4 sheet of white paper
• 1 A4 sheet of black card
• 1 scrap of tissue paper or other coloured paper
• A glue stick Colouring pencils or pens Scissors

What to do:

1. Print out your vampire templates on to a sheet of A4 paper. Cut out the vampire body and glue it to the back of the black card, using it as a guide to cut out your vampire’s body. Remember to cut along the dotted lines under the arms.
2. Cut out the vampire face and chest piece and draw on your vampire’s face.
3. Stick your vampire face and chest piece on to the body piece (black cardboard side facing up), leaving the V-shape of black showing at the top of the head for the vampire’s hair (see the picture above).
4. Take a small square of tissue paper (around 3cm) or other coloured paper and pinch it together in the middle to make a bow tie shape, then glue to your vampire’s neck. Draw four buttons underneath the bow tie to make the vampire’s shirt.
5. With the vampire laid out flat on the table, take each of the arms and fold them inwards so that they stand out from the body.
6. Glue along one straight edge of the vampire’s body piece as shown on the template, then roll the body into a cone shape, sticking the glued edge under the other straight edge. Hold in place until the glue dries.
7. Use your finished vampire to decorate your home ready for a super spooky hallowe’en!

Make a Witch Hallowe’en Decoration

You will need:

• Witch template
• 1 A4 sheet of white paper
• 1 A4 sheet of black card
• Some scraps of wool for the hair
• A glue stick Felt pens or colouring pencils
• Scissors
• A few shiny star stickers or scraps of coloured paper to make your own

What to do:

1. Print out the witch templates onto A4 paper.
2. Cut out the witch body template and glue it to the back of your black card. Use the template as a guide to cut out the body of your witch. Don’t forget to cut along the dotted lines under the arms.
3. Cut out the witch face template and colour it in then draw on a smiley face.
4. With the black cardboard side of the witch body piece facing up, stick the witch’s face on to the body underneath her black hat (see the picture above).
5. Glue on a few strands of wool to make the witch’s hair.
6. With the witch laid out flat on the table, take each of the arms and fold them inwards so that they stand out from the body.
7. Glue along one straight edge of the witch’s body piece as shown on the template, then roll the body into a cone shape, sticking the glued edge underneath the other straight edge. Hold in place until the glue dries.
8. Stick a few shiny stars on to the witch’s body and hat, or cut out your own decorations from scraps of coloured paper.
9. Use your finished witch to decorate your home ready for a super spooky hallowe’en!

Make a Spiral Ghost Hallowe’en Decoration

You will need:

• 1 A4 sheet of white printer card
• Colouring pencils or felt pens
• Scissors

What to do:

1. Print out your ghost template on to the white card. If you don’t have a card suitable for your printer, you can print onto ordinary paper and glue it on to a piece of scrap cardboard e.g. an old cereal packet.
2. Use a pair of scissors to carefully cut around your ghost head and arms, then continue to cut following the lines all the way around the inside in a continuous spiral.
3. Use a colouring pencil or felt pen to draw a face on to your ghost. You can make it funny or scary or surprised—you could even draw a different face on the front and back of your ghost so that it looks different from each side when it’s hanging up!
4. Hang up your ghost by the bottom of its spiral tail, or by its head, ready for a super spooky hallowe’en!

Make a Bat Hallowe’en Decoration

You will need:

• 1 A4 sheet of white paper

• 1 A4 sheet of black card
• 1 black pipe cleaner for the legs
• A glue stick
• Felt pens or colouring pencils
• Scissors

What to do:

1. Print the bat template onto A4 paper. Carefully cut out the eyes and fangs and place them to one side for the moment, then glue the wings and body templates to the back of your sheet of black card.
2. Cut out the wings and body from the black card, using the printed template as a guide. Lay your bat pieces out flat on the table, black side up.
3. Colour in the eyes then cut them out and glue them into position on your bat’s face, just below the top curved edge.
4. Cut out the fangs and glue them on to the bat’s face underneath his eyes.
5. Using the glue stick, make a line of glue along one straight side of your bat body, then roll the body into a cylinder, and stick the two straight edges together. Hold in place while the glue dries.
6. Glue the wings on to the back of your bat, covering the joined edges from the previous step. Hold in place while the glue dries.
7. Take a black pipe cleaner and fold it in half. Glue the folded end to the inside of your bat (see the picture above)
8. Curl the two cut ends of the pipe cleaner to make the bat’s talons
9. Hang the bat upside down at home ready for a super spooky hallowe’en

We’d love to see your finished crafts — please tweet us a photo @MonLifeLearning @MonLifeOfficial Decoration

Celebrating Monmouthshire Summer Activity Hubs

Over the last few months during this very different period, MonLife were able to demonstrate how they can collaborate effectively to deliver programs that positively impact young people in Monmouthshire.

At the start of the summer holidays MonLife we asked to provide a program for children aged 5-12 to access daily activities. In normal circumstances, The Monmouthshire Games is usually delivered within the four MonLife leisure centres. However, due to the pandemic, it required an adapted program to be devised and collaborative work.

With the help of services from sports development, youth service and leisure the Monmouthshire Summer Activity Hubs were developed. It was essential that the program had a variety of activities, risk assessed and following government guidelines to keep the children and staff safe.

“The Monmouthshire Summer Activity Hubs were a perfect example of MonLife employees coming together to provide a great experience for our young people. The feedback from the parents and children was positive and they enjoyed being able to interact with their friends from school as well as creating new friendships. We hope this gave the children some form of normality before going back to school in September”. – Sports development officer

The expertise of people within these services created a variety of activities for the children to complete from team building games, sports to arts and crafts. The impact of this program positively affected young people in Monmouthshire and in some instances it was the first opportunity that children had to reengage with others since the lockdown. The Hubs provided a safe environment for children to be able to interact and socialise together, which is reflected in the feedback gathered during the summer.

The delivery of the hubs also provided the parents and carers in the community with a scheme that they can trust and they can restart some normality of work. In addition to this, it provided staff with the opportunity to return to the workplace and reengage with the community.

Following on from the success of the Summer Activity Hubs we are very excited to announce that The Monmouthshire Games will be returning this October Half Term. Keep an eye out on our social media for the latest news and to register your interest as there will be limited spaces available!

MonLife Active Develop Digital Channels During Lockdown To Keep Residents Active And Engaged

Following the closure of MonLife Leisure Centres on the 20^th March we decided to go digital to ensure our customers could continue their journey with us.

MonLife Active Fitness Instructors started recording Classes and Workouts such as Yoga, Tai Chi and HIIT and sharing them via the newly formed MonLife YouTube channel which now has more than 150 classes, and can be viewed at any time for FREE https://www.youtube.com/c/MonLife/videos 

“Your well-being workouts have been a huge part of keeping me feeling rooted and connected to our old lives. Thank you team”

The digital platforms started to develop quickly and enabled the staff to use Zoom classes as the platform for customer interaction and coaching element that both members and instructors enjoy so much, with 3 classes being offered each day with a post-class Coffee Catch Up. 

The MonLife Active NERS Team also wanted to support people in the local community by organising a fundraiser using Zoom classes to support people living with Mental Health in Wales during the COVID-19 Pandemic, which raised £619.00 

Additionally, using the Technogym My Wellness App “Stay at Home” Physical Activity Challenge, which provided new workouts every day and a Walk/Run The Monmouthshire Way Challenges were created to provide support and motivation to over 200 members while they waited for our centres to re-open.   

“Thank you guys, all of you at Monmouth leisure centre have gone above and beyond. Truly amazing people”

We look forward to finding new and innovative ways to stay in contact with the members of our community to keep supporting both their physical and mental wellbeing. 

We have also launched our brand new MonLife App, keep up to date with news, timetables, activities and more, simply download it from the Apple or Play store. Your Leisure Centre in your pocket!

Leisure Providers in Gwent Join Together to Keep Customers Active During Lockdown

Leisure Providers in Gwent Join Together to Keep Customers Active During Lockdown

Following the most recent announcement from Welsh Government, additional lockdown restrictions have been put into place in several areas across South Wales. The importance of physical activity has never been more important and with this in mind leisure providers have joined together across Gwent to help keep customers active.

Customers who have a membership with a leisure provider in counties across Gwent, which they will be unable to access due to local lockdown restrictions, will instead through this innovative partnership be able to attend their local gyms or leisure centre whilst the local lockdown remains in place.

This new initiative, called Active Gwent, includes Aneurin Leisure (Blaenau Gwent), Caerphilly County Borough Council Sport & Leisure Services, MonLife (Monmouth), Newport Live and Torfaen Leisure Trust.

This means that customers who live in Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Torfaen, Monmouthshire or Newport who are currently members of leisure providers outside of their local area which they are now unable to access, can be given an Active Gwent membership to attend leisure services in their own county as part of this new partnership.

This will be available until 31st October 2020 initially and kept under review following Welsh Government updates. Customers continue to pay their existing membership fees and will remain members of their usual leisure provider. When local lockdowns are lifted, they will be able to return to their usual facilities. Members who are eligible for this will be contacted by their local leisure provider with more details on how to gain access.

The Active Gwent initiative has been introduced to help support communities in Gwent with remaining physically active whilst restrictions remain in place. All of the leisure providers taking part remain committed to the safety of staff and customers with additional guidelines in place including enhanced cleaning regimes and social distancing.

Steve Ward, Chief Executive at Newport Live said “We are thrilled to be joining with other leisure organisations across Gwent to strengthen the Active Gwent partnership. It is important to be able to help people with keeping active and to support their health and wellbeing, even more so during these challenging times. This new initiative means that despite local lockdowns, customers will still have seamless access to take part in sports and activities in their local area.”

Phill Sykes, Director of Operations at Aneurin Leisure Trust added “Our mission is to improve community life.  We’re delighted to work in partnership with Active Gwent to provide members outside of the borough with the opportunity to continue their fitness activity whilst the local restrictions are in place, through this reciprocal agreement.”

Angharad Collins, CEO Torfaen Leisure Trust said “WE are delighted that in the face of adversity in our sector that we have been able to collaborate with other colleagues in Gwent for this ground-breaking project.  Our ultimate aim is to ensure that the citizens of Gwent can continue to be physically active in our COVID safe environments.  I strongly encourage you to get in touch with your existing provider to take advantage of this unique opportunity.”

Cllr Richard John, Cabinet Member for MonLife said “This fantastic news means that people can continue to keep fit and well at a local leisure centre as winter approaches – regardless of their home address in Gwent. This is a great example of how we are working in partnership across Gwent to support people – I would like to thank everyone who has made this happen.”

Cllr Ross Whiting, the Caerphilly County Borough Council Cabinet Member for Learning and Achievement commented “The collaboration between leisure trusts and councils from across Gwent is a fantastic initiative that will allow residents of Caerphilly and the wider Gwent area to keep active in a time when customers need physical activity the most.

“I am delighted that leisure providers from across Gwent have come together to find a solution that is in the best interest of the people that matter – our residents. Thank you to all officers who have made this possible and to our customers who have been patiently waiting to return to their favourite facilities once again.”

More details about participating leisure providers can be found at the websites below.
Blaenau Gwent – AneurinLeisure.org.uk
Caerphilly – Caerphilly County Borough Council Sport & Leisure Services
Monmouthshire – MonLife.co.uk
Newport – NewportLive.co.uk
Torfaen – Torfaen Leisure Trust

The latest information on local lockdowns from Welsh Government can be found here: https://gov.wales/local-lockdown