A pioneering scheme to provide free sports equipment to nurseries and playgroups, launched by the parent company of four holiday parks in Great Yarmouth, is being extended until Friday (March 13) to meet demand.

A pioneering scheme to provide free sports equipment to nurseries and playgroups, launched by the parent company of four holiday parks in Great Yarmouth, is being extended until Friday (March 13) to meet demand.

The move comes after the national Fun and Fitness scheme by Haven Holidays, which operates Caister, Seashore, Wild Duck and Hopton holiday parks, won widespread praise from parents and pre-school leaders.

Haven is giving away tens of thousands of items of sport equipment to nurseries and playgroups in a first for a British holiday company.

Each big box of equipment for pre-school groups is worth more than �150 and has been chosen to help meet Early Years curriculum requirements.

The box contains soft foam flyers, reaction balls, hoops, throw-downs, cones and a floor parachute amongst other sports equipment. Bonus items also available include a mini-trampoline and a foldaway goal.

The scheme is open to playgroups in Great Yarmouth and so far more than 20 in the area have registered.

Funded entirely by Haven, with no cost to parents, playgroups or nurseries, the company launched the scheme, run via a website www.havenfunfitness.com following the success of children's exercise sessions held at its 35 holiday parks in the U K including the four in Great Yarmouth area.

“We've seen how much fun youngsters have doing Wake and Shake and all the other activities we have for little ones on our parks,” say Haven “and wanted to encourage children all over the country to get up, have fun and enjoy the exercise habit.”

Details of how to log-in have been sent to thousands of pre-school groups around the country but anyone with queries can email support@havenfunfitness.com for more information.