Sammendrag
Equipment centres offer free loans (or, in a few cases, reasonable rental) of sports and outdoorequipment. Policy documents that mention the equipment centres often highlight them as a lowthreshold offer that can help reduce the negative consequences of growing up in a low-income family (Erdvik et. al., 2023). The purpose of this report was twofold. First, we examine who uses the equipment centres, why the equipment centres are used, and how the borrowers perceive the purpose of the equipment centres. Second, we examine how the borrowers experience the equipment centres´ added value in the local community. The report is based on data from a survey answered by 8,955 borrowers with a loan profile connected to the BUA network (equivalent
to a response rate of 19.4 per cent) as well as semi-structured one-to-one interviews with 16 borrowers at 6 equipment centres located in 5 municipalities.
The survey shows that the borrowers relate several purposes to the equipment centres, and
there is particularly strong agreement that the purpose is to help those who do not have equipment available and those who grow up in low-income or minority families so that they can participate in activities. While reduced environmental impact is the purpose the fewest respondents associate with the equipment centre, environmental concerns are the most common explanation for using an equipment centre.
Through the design as a universally available offer, the equipment centres balance between reaching those who need it most, and at the same time being perceived less stigmatizing through its universal availability to all parts of the population. Overall, accessibility and usage thresholds appear to be low. The impression from the interview material is that “everyone” is a possible borrower at the equipment centres, and when the survey also shows that 95 per cent of the respondents do not feel that it is embarrassing to borrow, this suggests that the offer does not seem stigmatizing.
Borrowers who are young and/or have a minority background use the equipment centres more often than others. However, the equipment centres are subject to sporadic use and the most common frequency of use among the borrowers in our survey is 1–3 times a year, which is also supported by the interview material. On this background – and based on one of the equipment centres´ main goals being the reduction of financial barriers linked to children and young people´s participation in leisure activities – it is important to emphasize that this survey does not imply that the equipment centres will contribute directly to increased participation in organized, regular leisure activities. This will require continuous access to equipment, rather than occasional
borrowing. However, the equipment centres will give access to equipment that you use once in a while, and the offer will thus be able to contribute to children and young people getting the opportunity to try out activities that they might otherwise not have had the opportunity to do. There may be an unrealized potential in further developing the equipment centres by looking at organization or opportunities for collaboration that can also contribute to supporting the more regular, organized activities for children and young people, in accordance with the Leisure Declaration.
The equipment centres can have added values related to, for example, increased physical participation and further improved public health, environmental sustainability as well as inclusion through the free principle and universalism. Out study shows that the borrowers want broad marketing, extended opening hours and good accessibility in the form of central location, short travel distance, suitable opening hours and sufficient equipment on offer. Further, the informants also discuss the possibilities that some equipment centres can be designed as “mobile” units (similar to book boats and book buses) and [...]
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