Aviva Community Fund provided £800 of match funding
Up&Walking
London, England, United Kingdom
Aim
New walking initiative to get older people up & active, building new friendships & combatting the extended social isolation caused by COVID
Silverfit, an over 45s fitness charity based in London, promotes healthier, happier ageing, focusing on healthspan rather than lifespan - with weekly exercise sessions in many London boroughs.
After 9 years of steady growth and 25 weekly sessions, Silverfit - formed as part of the Olympic Legacy - seeks to expand to an exciting new venue at the Community Centre within East Village (the former Olympic athletes’ residence).
Using Silverfit’s trusted social-sandwich model of 'socialising, physical activity and then more socialising after' to build community resilience, we want to create a brand new walking initiative that will benefit older people, 'Up&Walking'. This will include 3 main activities: Walking football, Nordic Walking and new for Silverfit, a partnership with Ramblers’ Walking for Health.
Our vision for this project is to provide FREE sessions of 'Up&Walking' - making them accessible to all older people, regardless of financial situation.
We hope to source community transport to bring people in from key neighbouring areas of economic deprivation with a higher BAME representation. This will in turn allow for more inclusivity and reach people who may have otherwise not been able to join our sessions.
We hope that these new sessions will also play a big part in reducing the social isolation that many older people have felt during the pandemic and ultimately bring a lot more fun and friendship into their lives!
Testimonials from our current members to show the positive effects our sessions have on their lives:
- "I joined [a Silverfit session] late September 2018 and I’ve not looked back. It’s been an absolute revelation and I never thought that Nordic Walking could be so beneficial and make such a difference and change my life so much. In 19 months I lost 4 stone 9 lbs and the weight loss has been slow and steady and reasonably consistent. My fitness has increased dramatically as has my core strength and speed and my balance has improved too. I love the group and have found the acceptance and encouragement of the Silverfit team and instructors and other group members has been so very important and I am overwhelmed by their kindness and friendship." -Pauline
- “Joining Silverfit has changed my life for the better, I have made new friends, gained confidence to try different exercises. I’ve got my freedom back.” - Marjorie
- “The whole thing is so sociable and so many lovely people and friends I’ve met. I actually don’t know what I’d do without it now.” - Jean
- “It has improved my life by the friendship groups that you meet within Silverfit, it’s nice because people meet outside and are social.” - Patsy
- “I thoroughly enjoy Silverfit not only for the exercise, but I have also made new friends and it is a lot of fun with a lot of laughs.” - David
This project successfully funded on 16th June 2021