Last summer the Northumberland Knightflyers coaches, Alan Hoyle and Isobelle Gibson, travelled to London on a very special journey, to not only watch the Chicago Bulls take on the Utah Jazz, but to actually learn first hand how the Chicago Bulls train, by the Chicago Bulls coaching staff. Alan and Isobelle were two of only fifty coaches from around the world to attend a special NBA coaches clinic with the Six Time World Champion Chicago Bulls.

The Northumberland Knightflyers Basketball Club is open to people of all ages and abilities, our junior team has an age range of 5 - 15 years old, while our senior team has no upper age limit. We also welcome casual players who just wish to improve their game.

Currently both the senior and junior clubs train each Friday, 7pm till 9pm at Coquet High School in Amble (Acklington Road, Amble, NE65 0NG), each session costs £5.

Starting Saturday 6th March, the Northumberland Knightflyers will be starting basketball sessions at Blyth Sportscentre (Bolam Park, Blyth, Northumberland, NE24 5BT) at 11am till 12pm, each session will cost £3.

Manager Lynn McIntosh explained: ''The funding will allow us to provide 3 free trips into Northumberland from Blyth, Ashington and Newbiggin areas for 36 customers who want to cycle the beautiful coastline.

Transport will be provided free of charge so all names will go into a hat and winning groups drawn from each area."

Chief executive Gordon Moore said '' We were blown away by the support and votes we received.

The two-hour sponsored aerobic workouts will be led by qualified instructors across 70 leisure centres in the North East and Yorkshire.

Ashington Leisure Centre, Blyth Sports Centre, Concordia Leisure Centre and Newbiggin Sports and Community Centre are all taking part in this great fundraising event.

The Aerobathon event aims to raise over £90,000 for the Child's Voice Appeal - a helpline for adults concerned about a child.

Quest is the UK Quality Scheme for Sport and Leisure, and has been developed to help sport and leisure organisations improve the quality of the services they offer to their customers. The process is rigorous and involves all the staff working together to provide a better service.

Quest assesses all main areas of centre operation, with a two day on-site inspection and reports via mystery shoppers.

A centre must score 60% to gain the Quest award. On this first assessment, Blyth Sports Centre scored 71% and Concordia Leisure Centre and The Sporting Club of Cramlington both scored 74% - all falling into the commended classification.

You can now exercise at Blyth Sports Centre, Concordia Leisure Centre and the quieter Sporting Club Cramlington using the same fitness equipment and using the popular Fitlinxx system to monitor your workouts.

The Lifestyle Gym at Sporting Club Cramlington has 13 cardiovascular machines (4 treadmills, 3 rowers, 2 bikes, 1 arm ergometer, 2 cross-trainers and an adaptive motion trainer), 9 resistance machines and a free weights area. It offers a quieter exercise environment than the other centres, and also has a great range of fitness classes for you to try.

With Lifestyle Memberships from as little as £27.50, you now have 3 fantastic venues where you can exercise with Blyth Valley Arts and Leisure.

For more details about the new Lifestyle gym, opening hours, memberships etc. please visit our website www.bval.co.uk

As well as all the usual activities such as snorkelling, trampolining, craft sessions, swimming lessons etc, we have some fantastic 'specials' on offer -

EASTER EGG HUNT - Thursday 9th April, from 11am-3pm at Ridley Park
Activities will also include face painting, football, wave boarding etc.

SEGHILL FUN DAY - Friday 17th April, from 11am-3pm at Seghill Rugby Club
Activities will include face painting, dance performances, breakdancing, football, basketball and cricket.

Other great activities include the 'cheerleading camp,' archery, runner bikes, golf and an action-packed 2-day camping adventure!

For more details of all of these activities and more, please visit the website www.bval.co.uk

The MEND Programme, which stands for 'Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, DO IT!' is aimed at families with a child aged 7-13 years old who may be overweight.

Each 20 session programme is completely FREE and includes exercise classes for the children as well as interactive workshops that parents can join in.