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FIT ROVERS changed Rita’s world

“Now I am not going to go back because now I finally understand…. my journey is not done yet.”

Having lost a stone and three inches off her waist, Rita, a member of the Rovers Community Trust health and wellbeing programme, FIT ROVERS is determined that this lifestyle change is for life.

After trying numerous diet cultures in a yo-yo cycle, FIT FANS has helped Rita change her habits for good. The programme is a FREE health programme for men and women aged 35-65 who are looking to lose weight, get fitter and lead a more active life.

This positive trajectory is a whole different world to one that Rita has previously experienced. In 1993, her working commitments left her with no time for herself and engulfed in stress. As a consequence of her lifestyle her weight reached 22 stone, but a deeper issue would arise.

As Rita sat in for a job interview with hope of a better work-life balance, she would experience a brain hemorrhaged that would go unnoticed for hours. She fell numerous times on her travels home and those around her dismissed her as being a stereotypical drunk.

Her husband and sister later realised something untoward and rang 999. They later found had been suffering a brain hemorrhage, drifting in and out of consciousness- the path ahead looked dark.

After being admitted to Manchester Hope Hospital for 4 weeks, Rita returned home but her speech took 6 months to return before she could build any confidence in entering the outside world again.

Rita states: “this was 28 years ago but it took this serious illness to wake me up.”

Consequently, she knew her health and wellbeing must be prioritised and found herself joining Weight Watchers and Slimming World programmes, but the story remained the same; lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight.

All until she received an email from the Rovers Fit Fans programme whereby the programmes educational platform has allowed her to learn about a balanced lifestyle and how to implement this into her everyday life.

Since completing the programme, Rita has continued her progress and even walks 20,000 steps across the weekend having previously not been able to walk for a short distance without getting breathless.

 

 

Over 1800 females active through Female Fitness Exercise project

Over 1800 women across London have got more physically active thanks to the EFL Trust’s Female Fitness Exercise (FFE) project supported by the Mayor of London.

1287 of those females on the project were previously inactive and by December 2017, the project aims to have engaged at least 2,625 females across London.

The project also targets reducing the number of females who are classed as ‘inactive’; and specifically those who struggle to exercise regularly, such as the over 40’s or those with a disability.

Seven EFL clubs run the project through their community trusts, offering a wide range of activities – in addition to football – to help women keep active and improve their overall health and well-being.

One club in particular, Leyton Orient, have been working with the local Asian Women’s Support group through the FFE project to help ladies lose weight, increase fitness levels and improve their health and fitness knowledge.

Leyton Orient Trust have been working with the group, trying out a range of sport based activities and ran a 12-week football fans in training (FFIT) session alongside ‘soccersise’ – exercise fun using a football and football based techniques.

Philip Smith, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Leyton Orient Trust said: “It’s been great to work with the Asian Women’s Support Group to set up these sessions. Over the 12 weeks the group got to try out a range of activities, helping to build an enjoyable and positive experience around physical activity along with an understanding and deeper knowledge of how to make healthier lifestyle choices.

“It’s been lovely to see the group develop and see the impact it has made on their health. We are always keen to explore ways we can work with local groups to achieve positive outcomes for the community and this project is an excellent example of the impact partnership working can make.”

Many participants on the project had a chance to try out sports for the first time and after reaching their 12 week goal as a group, losing over 3 and half stone in weight, the ladies were invited to attend their first ever football match, enjoying a day out as guests of the club.

Manjit, one of the participants, commented: “The sessions were excellent. It was really interesting learning how to make healthier good choices and doing it together in a group made it lots of fun. I really enjoyed playing football and tennis; two sports I’d never tried out before. It was also great to attend my first ever football match too.”

Parm, another participant said: “I have become more active, lost weight and improved my diet. I still have some bad habits to get over in consuming food but I know they are bad now through the knowledge I have gained doing the course! I’ve also made lots of new friends through the programme too.”

To find out more about the Female Fitness Exercise programme visit: https://www.efltrust.com/female-fitness-exercise/