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18
Nov 2024
‘I can’t imagine not having it’: The Harrogate group where fitness meets volunteering
It’s 5.30pm on a dark and chilly evening – around eight degrees – and I’m standing outside the Harrogate and District Community Action (HADCA) office on East Parade.
I dusted off my trainers the night before, ready to join HADCA's Community Fit group.
HADCA is a charity that supports community organisations and other charities across the local area. In 2022, when staff decided to marry fitness, socialising and their knowledge of the charitable sector, Community Fit was born.
“It’s been brilliant, I have met loads of new people”, one member – named Susanna – tells me.
Every Wednesday, members meet at Community House at 5.45pm and travel on foot to help out in the community for an hour. This can be anything from weeding a church garden or fixing a lightbulb, to doing arts and crafts or tidying up. Anything the ‘Fit Partner’ – the name given to the community organisations involved – requires.
I joined the walking group – which was solely to make interviewing easier and, of course, nothing to do disliking running – with around nine others. The remaining seven ran, but members can choose which they would prefer to do each week, before we all met outside McDonald's.
Susanna, a 40-year-old property surveyor, told me she joined Community Fit around two years ago. She was new to Harrogate and predominantly works from home, so she loved the idea of keeping fit and meeting new people.
She said:
We’ve done loads of gardening projects, like digging ponds for churches and schools. We’ve created nice spaces at the Harrogate Homeless Project garden. We’ve sorted donations for a charity that collects baby clothes – anything you can think of really.
I asked Susanna what draws her back to Community Fit each week. She said it has become part of her weekly routine and offers a nice change to her usual working environment. Susanna added:
Everyone is really friendly. It feels really rewarding too, the community places we go are often so grateful and you can see you’ve made a real difference.
It’s definitely helped me meet people. We do other social things, like the Parkrun or other volunteering opportunities. We’re friends, not just people enjoying each others' company once a week.
FitStars hard at work at Artizan Café.
'It keeps me young'
67-year-old Janet Ross, who led the walking group, joined Community Fit as a member two years ago. But when the opportunity to train as a group leader came about, it was an offer she could not refuse.
Janet said:
I’m retired but I do a lot of volunteering work. I moved down to Harrogate a few years ago and I didn’t know anyone other than my sister, who lives in Wetherby.
I’m quite a young version of myself, I’m not ready to be a grey old lady and I’m not worried about going out and meeting people. So, I joined an outdoor swimming group here, which was where someone invited me to a Community Fit open day.
Janet had to undergo training and complete online modules to qualify as a group leader. "It's all very properly done”, she said.
Janet tells me she has met some of her best friends at Community Fit:
I’ve met the best network of friends – they're like my best mates.
I always look forward to a Wednesday night. You get a chat, you get fun – a bit of ribbing sometimes – and I can’t imagine not having it. It’s a delight.
It’s added a whole new chapter for me – I think it was fate. It keeps me young. I love being able to keep fit, socialise and volunteer.
(L) Janet Ross and some of the FitStars.
Volunteering work
We walked for around half-an-hour before meeting the runners, who looped the route to add some extra kilometres.
Half of the group then went to Harrogate Homeless Project and the other half went to Artizan Café.
I went to the latter first, where the ‘FitStars’ – the name given to group members – were tasked with drawing a Christmas display on the windows.
For any prospective members, fear not, this was done with stencils.
Laura Kennedy, activity leader at Community Fit, is a mental health nurse by trade. She was looking for work earlier this year and found the job.
Before nursing, I did voluntary work, and I was relatively new to the Harrogate area.
I wanted to do something within the community but without having too much of a commitment. This job has been brilliant since. It’s allowed me to meet new people and keep active.
Laura, 37, said members can read the newsletter before each session, which tells them where they will be going and what they will be doing that week.
I asked what her favourite part of the job is. Alongside keeping fit and socialising, she said:
When we get a new Fit Partner each month, it feels like we’re opening our members up to new opportunities. I love that part.
She told me organisations can reach out to HADCA to partner with Community Fit, but members can also connect groups, charities and schools.
Around eight to ten people are in each group, which means these organisations are getting up to ten hours of free help each week.
I moved over to Harrogate Homeless Project at around 7pm to join the rest of the group for the last 30 minutes of volunteering.
Some people organised a store cupboard, others were laminating documents, and two members were tying ribbon around the homeless project's clients’ Christmas gifts.
Shortly after 7.30pm, we took the same route back to Community House. Again, some people walked, others ran. Both groups are led by qualified leaders.
Group members at the Harrogate Homeless Project.
One thing I noticed during my evening with Community Fit was how happy everyone was to be there. Most of these people came straight from work or from looking after their children – a lot of us could think of nothing better than just switching off for the evening.
But the 'FitStars' show up with a smile on their faces, eager to get their steps in, see their friends and help the community.
Community Fit does not require any commitment. It celebrates milestones - for example, someone was celebrating their tenth session last week – but if members are unable to attend one week, it really doesn't matter.
Members told me they can just "jump back in", no matter how much time they spend away from Community Fit.
The age range was mixed – from people in their 20s to 60s – but it seemed like a real tight-knit group of friends.
Community Fit launched in partnership with North Yorkshire Sport as a pilot two years ago. At the time, it was funded by the NHS.
Now, it is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and a grant from Sports England, supported by National Lottery Players, and requires around £28,000 to operate in 2025.
You can sign up to Community Fit, which runs every Wednesday from 5.45pm to 8pm, for free here.
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