#arts active

We want to know your thoughts on our Arts Active program and we’re coming to you! 

Pizza & drinks will be available to get your energies and ideas flowing 🍕

We’ve got some great news from our Arts Active team! 

For the remainder of this term the Arts Active pass is now £25! Sessions which you can get involved in included Yoga, Pilates, Boxing and many more.

Not only that, there’re also a couple of events taking place in May.

1. Arts Active Focus Groups - Across the month of May, there will be focus groups happening across UAL campuses to discuss with students what can be improved about Arts Active. Food and drinks will be provided and any student who is a part of this event will be given a £10 Amazon gift voucher.  Students do not have to be currently involved with any SU activity to be involved in this discussion.

2. De-Stress Month - There’ll be Yoga Workshops held at various campuses around UAL in May.  The workshops will range from improving mental health, creativity, to an introduction to Yoga. Classes such as Tai Chi, Salsa, Club aerobics which will also be held.

To get involved in these events all you would have to do is go to our website to get involved. Spaces at the workshops and focus groups are limited and will be on a first come first serve basis so apply quickly.

£You might have heard some rumours. “Changes to UAL Sport?” I hear you ask. “I heard a rumour about a gym” they mutter. 

Well here it is: UAL Sport and Arts Active have merged.

As of September 2015 we’re now bringing all University of the Arts London Sports and Recreational Fitness programmes under one name: Arts Active. 

So what does this mean? From now on, when you get an Arts Active membership you have the option of 3 passes:

The Club Pass

The Play Pass

The Gym + Class Pass 

(Yes that’s right - the gym rumours are true - we’ll come back to that in a bit)

Want to start swimming but can’t afford the inner city prices?

Arts Active are offering UAL students FREE Swimming at Golden Lane Sports and Fitness Centre when you buy a £3 Student Card.

Present your student ID and you can get access to free swimming during any Lane or General swimming times. On a week day it can often account for over 10 hours of Free pool time!

See their live timetable.

Short of saying the dreaded V-word, we all know which-big-invented-commercial-day-of-crap is coming up.  And whether you love it, hate it, or love to hate it, it is going to happen.

But fear not!  The most important person to love is YOU - so we're #ThrowbackThursday-ing to some awesome Arts Active sessions - because if you can't love yourself then how the hell you gonna love somebody else?  

Exercising releases endorphins (natural mood enhancers) - not to mention it's fun, a good way to stay healthy, these sessions are sociable, blah blah blah, in short: it's a good thing to do for Number 1 (YOU!)

Ever wondered what it would be like to pop along to a fencing session with Arts Active? Get the low down right here in the comfort of your own Tumblr before you brave it in real life!

The evening starts at about 7pm when everyone turns up and picks out some protective clothing. It can be a bit confusing but everyone is super friendly and will help you get kitted out in no time. 

Once you're dressed the instructor leads the group through a few minutes of gentle warm ups and footwork techniques. This is really easy to pick up so everyone can do it together no matter what level you are! 

Then each week we focus on learning a new move. So the instructor will explain and demonstrate it until everyone is comfortable. Then we separate off into pairs and practice. Once everyone has the hang of it we swap partners and maybe attempt a few more advanced variations.

Then for the rest of the session it's free fencing! It's a super chilled format where people ask each other for a match and others volunteer to referee. It's impossible to embarrass yourself in free fencing and it's a brilliant opportunity to try out new moves and learn tricks from each other.

Then after the fencing is over we usually all go to the bar for a few drinks, yay!

I love the Arts Active fencing sessions :) It's not only a great way to get fit but also to meet people from other colleges and to try something new! Everyone is extremely friendly and relaxed, there are no strict rules and it's not ultra competitive either. You're encouraged to think outside the box and have the freedom to mess around and find a style that suits you!

Hope to see you there tomorrow!