Health booklet shares inspiring fitness stories

A booklet revealing healthy initiatives people can take up across North Somerset has been produced.

The Go4Life campaign, in association with North Somerset Council, has produced a 28-page document whereby local people reveal ways in which they have been able to enjoy a more active lifestyle.

The new Health Lifestyles in North Somerset booklet aims to inspire people to get active – and coincides with Team GB’s success at the Olympics in Rio.

The stories which are being told include Glen, who found a route into paid work through the community sports leader award, and Maria, who lost weight through learning a new approach to healthy eating and exercise thanks to free support from a health trainer.

Other stories include people who accessed the stop smoking services, a partially-sighted woman who has discovered social benefits to exercise and a lonely retired fire officer who now enjoys volunteering with Age UK’s flexercise clubs.

Rebecca Stathers, the council’s healthy lifestyles service manager, said: “Earlier this year Public Health England launched the One You campaign, which highlights that the lifestyle choices we make can have a dramatic impact on our chances of becoming ill later in life.

“The local people included in our booklet highlight how making small changes now can improve your health right away and double your chances of staying healthy as you get older.”

To view the new health booklet, log on to www.n-somerset.gov.uk/go4life