Table 2.

Qualitative data from pupils regarding positive aspects of the voucher scheme and recommendations for improvement

Positive aspects of the voucher scheme
Removal of financial barrier	“…like when you go like with your friends and you don’t have the vouchers you like have got to worry about what you’re gonna pay, who’s got money, who hasn’t, but like this just everyone’s got it and you can just go…” (girl)
Changed attitudes towards physical activity	“…Well I didn’t really like sports until I started using the vouchers. I do a bit more sport than I used to…” (girl) “…The girls, they do gym and all that like when you goes out, you just sees them all the time…” (boy). “…I think it has worked because some people I think have got a gym membership after they went to the gym and when they stopped, when the vouchers stopped, I think they carried on going which they wouldn’t have before we had the vouchers…” (girl)
Increased choice / flexibility	“…With the vouchers we can do it anytime… you get more of a choice with the vouchers…” (boy) “…That’s why nobody likes P.E. because it forces them to do things they don’t want to do…”(girl) “…I like this input, yeah, like get a say in what we’d like…”(girl) “…that’s why I chose equipment because when it (the vouchers) finishes you can stop doing things but if you’re broke that much you can still use it…” (girl) "It’s cheaper to like pay for activities, like to go swimming and that than for like scooters and that’s more expensive so the voucher would be more better for equipment…"(girl)
Increased awareness of local facilities	“…I don’t know, the stuff that was on the back of it, it looked, fair play, it was like you want to go and do it so basically that’s what I went in to do in places and I did stuff. Because they’re on the back you can do it so why not try it out…”(girl)
Increased social interaction	“…It builds your friendship more as well from places…because like it’s doing something fun and you also doing it with your friends, like mixing with them…”(boy) "It’s made everyone active because the people who sometimes aren’t active might be friends with someone who is active and they have more opportunities to go and do different stuff (laughter) that they haven’t done before with the vouchers. And then they get like the unfit people and drag them along because they’re unfit…"(girl) “…you can do exercise in places like I enjoy going to LaserZone, I find it really fun, there for like half an hour and I’m sweating pints so…” (boy) “…because we’ve got the money, we’re not on the streets just making trouble, we’re out doing something…” (boy)
Increased competence / body image	“…Personally I think it’s helped me because I’ve become more fit and better stamina and things like that but other people in the year… when I was doing it, I had a six pack…” (boy) “…Yeah, it makes like unfit people going to be like fit because like they can go swimming and stuff..” (boy)
Recommendations for improvement
Provision of an electronic card	“…Yeah the paper falls apart when its wet…”(boy) “…because then sometimes they say it’s like only £3 and you’ve got a fiver then you’ve lost £2. So if you go twice you’ve, say you’ve spent £6 and then you’ve lost £4 what you could have spent on another one, on another sports…” (boy) “…Reckon you should like make a little card or something, we don’t have to carry paper around with us everywhere…and say how much we’ve got left on our cards and then use it…” (girl)
Vouchers redeemable for public transport	“…I think if we could improve the vouchers they should have like bus passing and that…I think it might get more people active because it’s easier to get places if it’s free to get there, it’s free to do it…”(boy)
Increased range of opportunities	“If they had treadmills in school, I’d be happy…Actually treadmills at school, that would keep everyone active…I don’t know if you look like(name of sports centre)…all the equipment they’ve got, just bring some things into school like that and like they could impel the people like to be more active…”(boy) “....I was going to buy some weights but I don’t know where I could buy them…”(boy) “…I’d like to see like, I’ve been like looking online for like female boxing and stuff like that, they don’t really do that…” (girl) “…It’s only like one thing in (name of area) and that’s the(name of activity centre) (laughs) isn’t it basically…”(girl) “…Getting all of us just on a trip....Yeah, and go up to (next town) for the day, like spend your vouchers…”(girl) “…Everyone’s going to go paintballing, you’d have loads going for paintballing…” (boy)
Use during school holidays	“…I would like one of them vouchers just for the summer holidays because you know like when parents are buying the new like school bags and everything and it’s going to be expensive to get everything…and then you’ve got the vouchers you don’t have to ask for money…” (girl) “…When you get home you just want to relax, it’s like I’d use them more weekends probably…I’d use them more in the holidays probably…” (girl)