About Us

Meet Lisa Redmond

Active Academy Ireland

Lisa Redmond, founder of Active Academy Ireland. Lisa set up Active Academy because she wants everybody to have the opportunity to be active and participate in some form of exercise. With over 20 years of experience working in the fitness industry, working with children and adults with additional needs and promoting positive mental health, Active Academy allows Lisa to bring all of her skills together under one roof.

Sport was a huge outlet for Lisa growing up and she wants to ensure that all children are afforded that coping skill. Taking part in sporting events and exercise can teach children so much about life but it’s also an escape. Sport allows you to switch off for an hour and just be yourself. Exercise presents vital opportunities to learn and develop coping skills that can transfer to all areas of our lives. It also provides a safe environment to learn and develop positive mental health habits that again can be implemented in our everyday lives.

After many years working in schools and seeing how exercise is not available for all children with additional needs, it motivated Lisa to develop programmes and activities suitable for every child in the class. No child, regardless of ability, should sit out and watch a PE class or a sports day in school. Exercise is vital for children so Lisa wants to ensure that it is available for everybody in a manner that suits them, be it online, group sessions, PE classes, additional needs clubs or one to one. We believe that every single one of us can reach the end of the obstacle course but we might just do it in a different way.

So many benefits come from exercise including the positive impact on our mental health, which is vital for our children right now. Access to things such as occupational therapy is generally a very slow process so children really need classes that are fun, inclusive and cater for their needs. During these classes children can learn about goalsetting, be taught that it’s OK to fail and we can encourage them to believe in themselves and achieve beyond their imagination.

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Learning to Fail

Learning to fail is something that I incorporate into all of my classes to help children develop coping skills and resilience. After many years working with children I realised that a large number of children have a huge fear of failure. They live in such an instant world and with things such as social media, children are striving more than ever to portray a perfect life. To counteract this I incorporate activities that are designed to let children fail. The aim of this is to build resilience, teach the children that failure is a normal part of life and to develop positive coping skills to help them achieve their goals. It’s vital, as adults that we let children see us fail and more importantly, how we deal with failure.

When the children eventually achieve their goal, their faces light up with a sense of achievement. But it’s not about the task, it’s about developing resilience and skills to help them in all areas of their lives.

Why Choose Us?

Our Aims Are Simple!

Fitness For All
Classes Specific To Needs
Happy Head, Healthy Heart and Strong body
Build Communities

We achieve this by ensuring that all of our classes are inclusive and designed to cater for everybody. We provide an environment where everyone is accepted for who they are. We include activities in our classes that allow our users to socialise and form friendships, this helps us build communities.

Our fun fitness classes allow children and adults to get fit, improve agility, strength, balance, coordination, social skills, listening skills, communication skills, flexibility and much more. We develop activities that will help improve gross and fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, develop coping mechanisms, improve concentration and locomotor skills. We also focus on building self-confidence and increasing self-esteem for all the participants in our classes. The best thing is that all of this happens unbeknownst to them because they are just having fun.

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Benefits From Our Classes

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Strength

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Confidence

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Healthy Habits

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Fun

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Fitness

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Agility

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Flexibility

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Balance

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Coordination

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Social Skills

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Mindfulness

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Coping Skills

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Decision Making

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Listening Skills

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Gross & Fine Motor Skills

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Communication Skills

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Improved Concentration

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Locomotor Skills

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Hand Eye Coordination

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Sense of belonging

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Mental Health Awareness

Testimonials

Knowing Active Academy’s professional and flawless reputation, I wanted to get fit myself and having the goal of doing my 1st Triathlon at the age of 43 years old, I wanted professional fitness training and was delighted to take up training sessions with Active Academy 3 times a week. I was unfit and needed the guidance and support that Leesha, Lisa and the team gave me, I could feel the difference within myself physically and mentally within the 1st month, the encouragement and the variety of training sessions are amazing. 5 months on from my 1st session with Active Academy I am hooked and I feel that I have found myself an amazing trainer and I love being part of their amazing community which is positive and progressive and I have never felt stronger.

Louise O'Neill

Lisa has been coming to Cuala Montessori pre-school to do classes twice a week for years. Along with an array of props, Lisa brings a smile to all the children’s faces! The children love seeing Lisa coming to visit us for class. Lisa’s energy and love of her class are second to none, even the teachers are keen to get involved in her fun action-packed exercise class! The children pick up on Lisa’s love of exercise and in turn love to get involved in her fantastic classes and give it their all! Hopefully, her classes are something that will stick with the children in later life and they will continue loving exercise.

Sandra

Cuala Montessori Pre-School

I love doing Active Academy after school because all my friends do it. My favourite bit is the warm-up and every week there is a different challenge and you try to get better and better.

Hugh

age 7

Lisa has implemented a programme here in Little Green Giants with great success over the last few years. It is very popular with all of our young groups in Montessori and Toddlers. It has enormous benefits for their physical and emotional development. Lisa has a wonderful rapport with the children and is brilliant at engaging all the children and delivering a fun program. It is the highlight of their week. I would highly recommend Lisa.

Gemma Greene

Little Green Giants

My 4-year-old son loves his exercise class! Every morning before school he asks me “is it on today”? He tells me all the fun games they play! His imagination explodes when he is telling me the games and fun they had that day! He asks why they can’t have class every day? His favourite game is Baby shark!

Charlotte Meaney

My son has attended Lisa’s camps and after school classes for almost 4yrs, he LOVES it and as a parent, I couldn’t be more pleased with every experience he has had. Lisa is dedicated to the children and has a huge emphasis on their health and well being and provides this in a fun and creative way. I couldn’t be happier with Lisa’s classes and camps.

Sally

I love going to Lisa’s class every week. It’s lots of fun with all my friends. When I leave I’m tired but very happy!

Leo

Age 7

We were delighted to welcome Lisa to deliver a guest session on the early childhood education degree. Lisa’s energy and enthusiasm, sprinkled with a dose of the reality of working with children in the early years, provided an informative and insightful experience for our students. Lisa’s attention to detail, her in-depth knowledge and experience of how to differentiate to ensure an inclusive environment is achieved, and her innovative approaches are all part of what makes Lisa an asset to any early childhood setting. We look forward to her continued contribution to our early childhood programme.

Suzy

Lecturer in PE & Early Childhood Education

Lisa will get your children moving and having fun. Her Active Academy crew are a firm favourite activity for all the pupils in Kilcoole Primary School every year.

Joanne Mc Donagh

Principal, Kilcoole Primary School

Lisa does really fun games and I love doing the obstacle courses and the exercises. It’s my favourite class!

Luke

Aged 7

I love playing with my friends and doing obstacle courses with Lisa.

Ben

Aged 4

My boys have attended Active Kids for the last few years, both camps and after school. Lisa is always so encouraging and welcoming and puts the kids at ease from the minute they go in. They love all the activities – scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, exercises. They always leave tired and happy!

My daughter has absolutely loved summer camp in Dublin with Lisa! I was nervous about her settling at the beginning but Lisa made sure I knew how she was getting on by sending me photos and updates throughout the morning. I need not have worried… This has been her favourite week of the year and she comes home so excited about all the activities she got up to at summer camp! Looking forward to next time already! Thanks Lisa!

Dear Lisa, A small note to say thank you so much for this week. You went miles and miles above and beyond what I expected and it really meant so much. You got it from all angles and helped all four of us reap the benefits of summer camp! You’re someone special – the effort, thought and love you put into your work is felt and the kids are so lucky to experience that – as are the parents!!
Thank you, (and thank you to your great team of helpers), With Love

Caroline, Conor, Saoirse & Clodagh

Lisa was a breath of fresh air when she visited our outreach classes. She had a lovely easy way with the kids. Lisa took the time and effort to make sure all the kids participated in the games. She used all her colourful equipment in a really fun way. The kids really enjoyed her class. We look forward to seeing Lisa in the new school year.

Isobel

SNA

Lisa from Active Academy is brilliant. She gets all the children involved in activities and caters for all their individual needs. Lisa makes exercise fun and has a range of different activities for the kids. Lisa is enthusiastic and full of positivity which really helps getting the children involved.

Chloe

SNA

Lisa came to our outreach classes for a few sessions. She was so well organised and really friendly. She put out loads of lovely colourful and engaging equipment which all the children loved! The games were fun, really creative and catered to all of the ability levels. I can’t recommend Lisa highly enough. She had a great rapport with staff and children and we really hope to have her back again in the coming school year.

Lisa has been working with us for the last four years. She makes exercise so much fun for the children that the 45 minutes just fly by. Lisa is great with the children and all of the children are included in the group. Lisa caters for all of their individual needs. Lisa’s enthusiasm makes the class enjoyable for everyone.

Audrey

Would highly recommend Lisa! She does amazing work and is great with people with disabilities.

Julieanne Whelan

I have been doing the class with Lisa on Monday’s. I really enjoy doing this class, I think it helps build my strength because I’m working on my 6 pack.

Matthew

My son really enjoyed Lisa’s online live classes over the summer. He enjoyed the interaction via comments and exercised along, even after the class had finished.

Paula

We were delighted to have a session with Lisa from active kids academy as part of our virtual timetable throughout lockdown and the summer. Our members of all ages could take part and really enjoyed each weekly session. It was such a success we have added the weekly sessions to our autumn timetable. We are thoroughly grateful to Lisa for all the time and support she gives (voluntarily) to Lakers.

Anne King

Volunteer & Events Manager, Lakers

Lisa worked with our students in our Specialised Preschool. All our students have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Lisa held great fitness classes with us throughout the school year. She was very patient with our students and very encouraging for them to join in. I loved Lisa’s approach to the children, always making it fun. As our student’s would sometimes have bad days, Lisa was brilliant changing it up as she anticipated their needs. Lisa will always be invited back to the preschool for her fitness classes and I would recommend everybody to try her classes you will have so much fun.

Ciara

Nexus Educational Hub

My boys have enjoyed Lisa’s classes for the last couple of years. She is amazing with them – they are so happy at the end of them and have had a brilliant time exercising in a fun and colourful and exciting class. They always want to go back for more. She is full of enthusiasm and encouragement and positivity. One of my boys has autism and Lisa is incredible with him and all the children she works with. We have gone to her summer camps too and been extremely happy there. We’re very lucky to know her.

Sharon

Wicklow Triple A Alliance has been working closely with Lisa and her team for 3 years now. We have total confidence in Lisa to support our kids. She really understands autism and is so fun and innovative with her approach to engaging our members. As well as our weekly fitness classes Lisa hosted a summer camp for us before and our members still talk about what fun it was. We highly recommend her!!

Ailing Foran

Chairperson

Lisa has been coming to our school for many years now providing a high-energy, fun-filled after school fitness class. The children just love it! Each week they are presented with a highly organised, action-packed hour and Lisa caters so well for individual needs. I would highly recommend Lisa for your Afterschool Programme.

Principal

Moneystown NS

Lisa has supported our services for over 3 years. Lisa is like a loving member of staff. She remembers the children and gives them a super fun fitness class for the different ages we have attending the service. Her understanding of the different abilities also makes her a superior instructor. She is reliable, flexible and truly loves her job. We love having her service of her classes and would highly recommend her to everyone. I wish her many years of success in her business.

Sinéad Plunkett

Owner of Tús Nua Montessori Bray

The kids are so excited to take part in her classes every week and are always so inspired by her innovative activities and her professionalism. I would highly recommend Lisa to all age groups, she is practically perfect in every way.

Abi

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