Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, has teamed up with a local school in move designed to boost the health and fitness of its teachers.

The centre is running a free, 12-week programme for 30 teachers at the neighbouring Cedars School.

As part of the scheme, teachers receive a supervised activity session with the centre’s fitness instructors as well as complimentary membership of the facility.

In addition, all employees have received a Fitbug Pedometer to measure the number of steps they take, their activity levels and their calorie intake for the duration of the programme and beyond.

Participants can also compare their activity levels to add a competitive element to the programme.

Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre is run by Leisure Connection, which is one of five operators in the East of England which have been selected to take part in the Active at Work, Healthy for Life pilot.

Run by the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) and backed by the government, the Active at Work, Healthy in Life project aims to bring businesses and the fitness industry together to help educate the nation's workforce about the benefits of physical activity.

If the pilots are successful, the programme will be launched nationwide in 2006.