Join James and Rosie as they catch-up with the Be Well team to get the scoop on how to make realistic new year’s resolutions and set achievable wellbeing and fitness goals that last all year. As we pass the one year mark since Here for You was created, Jo Mitchell stops by the studio with heartwarming updates from the cost-of-living campaign which signposts residents to top tips and relevant support.
Find out more about Be Well: Be Well – Leisure and wellbeing services (wigan.gov.uk) wigan.gov.uk/BeWell
It’s hard to know where to turn, Here for You can point you in the right direction: Here for you (wigan.gov.uk) wigan.gov.uk/HereForYou
Read the new Borough Life magazine edition here: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Borough-Life/BoroughLife.aspx As always, you can catch up on our latest news via our social media channels and Borough Life Plus: www.wigan.gov.uk/boroughlifeplus
Welcome to the Bor Life podcast with James and Rosie every month we chat to local guests to celebrate the great things happening in and around wig and Bor let’s get started shall We hello and welcome to the first B Life podcast of 2024 Rosie happy New Year we’ve got a great episode coming up talk us through who have we got coming up today absolutely so we’ve got two instructors from our bwell service we’ve got Danielle and fisel who both do very
Different sports but they’re here to talk to us about how we can keep that new year new me Vibe going all year round with some sustainable health and fitness goals and then we catch up with Joe who works here in the council in our customer services team about our here
For you cost of living campaign one year on so listeners to the podcast will perhaps remember Joe from our very first episode Rosie all the way back this time last year so Joe’s coming back on she’s one of your favorites to talk about the campaign that you two work so hard
Together on yeah so it’ll be fascinating to find out how that’s moved on over the last 12 months obviously cost of living crisis hasn’t gone anywhere but there’s there’s tons of positive updates is there about the support that’s been provided through that campaign absolutely so should we go into the
First interview I think we should let’s get going for 2024 hi everyone and I’m here with two of B Well’s finest instructors uh would you like to introduce yourself so I’m Danielle I am a well-be instructor specializing in dance and I’m fisel I’m a fitness instructor specializing in
Boxing and soon to be a professional boxer as well it’s really great for you to be in the studio with us we’ve got you in on a really kind of gray and horrible rainy day in wig toown Center but we wanted to to get you on to talk
About the rest of the year in 2024 and setting some kind of realistic like health and well-being goals so our listeners might be thinking they’ve just come out of that period where people might have set some you know New Year’s resolutions and and trying to uh hit
Certain targets I’m going to let you into a bit of a secret I’ve been saying it all week to to the team I hate setting New Year’s resolutions in January because it’s just the worst time of year to do it I think so could you
Give us a bit of just general advice on what’s an offer at be well but also yeah just if if people want to kind of make some positive change for for 2024 so throughout the leure centers we offer a range of different inductions and services so there’s things like swimming
There’s sauna and steam room that we have there there’s also loads of different classes we’re just there to help and support people and guide them as they as the training we’re always on hand to offer help to people when they need it yeah and I think obviously with
The B team I know I’ve had quite a lot of people signing up for January you get that kind of influx of people thinking right new year new goals let’s get moving um and you kind of see see like the first week it’s not that busy maybe
The second week a little bit busier and towards the end of January you do see people dropping off so you’ll see a lot of new faces throughout if you agree F that you get quite a lot of people coming along just to kind of try it out
Test the water to see if this is something for them a lot of time it’s like they bite off more than they can chew they might go to like five classes and they’ve not done anything over Christmas and it’s a little bit too much but then you do get the people who set
Themselves reasonable targets and they’ll think right I’m going to go to one class a week and then they’ll continue to come so I do think that about making like small changes rather than a vast change and trying to stick to that just making like healthy habits it’s not something that’s you know un
Unreasonable set yourself up to fail Target um and with the B program I work on weight management myself so I do a 12we dance program so they’ll come along to me for the 12 weeks and I do sometimes get you know committed 12 week period of people attending especially in
January I do see some people coming and they they might attend one class they might attend two and that might be it and it’s our like job as the instructors to actually try to get them to stay try to get them to commit might be that dance isn’t the thing that there after
Maybe it’s that they might fancy swimming they might fancy coming along during the boxing we’ve got loads on offer so it’s trying to find something that’s suitable I mean there’s loads going on there’s normally something that everybody can enjoy and get into like a habit that’s going to be lasting rather
Than throwing themselves in and it being a bit too intense it’s realistic goals isn’t it to try and set so like you were saying like whether if it’s one class a week or cuz you can always build up can’t you rather than going like kind of
All in at the start and it’s just not being sustainable what are your kind of like top tips for for anybody at the start of that like journey and they’re thinking of getting involved but maybe they’re a bit either like reluctant or they’ve not been to the Leisure Centers
Before what advice would you give to them in December it’s a very heavy period where you’re going to be eating a lot you’re going to be going out a lot drinking a lot and then people then feel maybe a little bit guilty that they want to straight away when JY comes start on
Their fitness goals and then they’ll you know push themselves into three four different classes they’ll come to the gym all the time and then after the first week they completely burnt out the body is in bits and then the more likely to stop whereas if they came and spoke
To us and then we set themselves realistic goals everyone’s different everyone has specific goals and needs then we’d be able to advise them a lot better and then set themselves realistic goals that they’re able to then maintain and then it’s all about Progressive overall where they progressively just
Get fitter and stronger and healthier and then by the end serve maybe 6 to 8 weeks then able to do their own thing and they’re on they’re at a fitness and strength level where it’s going to be maintainable and they’re able to then push on further yeah I do think that one
Of my top tips is for I would say for anybody but mainly with me I have women who come they might be a little bit anxious about actually coming into a gym facility when you hear the word gym sometimes you think everyone’s going to be fit that’s not the case it’s you know
We have everybody coming to the gym from from different backgrounds different sizes different shapes you’ve got everybody coming and and joining together my advice is that if you come to something that’s more social and kind of get into a group um of people so attending a class it might be a virtual
Class if you’re a little bit timid about going into the classes feeling a bit anxious going into a virtual class to see what it’s going to be like or going to a live class maybe you’ve got a friend who can come with you or a
Sibling or even if it’s your mom or your dad whoever wants to come along joining in and I think that social aspect of It kind of helps you stick to it CU it’s not only yourself that’s then accountable other people might be relying on you to attend that class
Because they might be in the same boat so I would say that creating a social atmosphere is is what I would use as my kind of top tip so I would say that that social kind of guidance does help and being in a surrounding where you feel comfortable is is really important and
It’s our job as instructors to make it as welcoming as possible which is what we try and do I think that’s a really good point about jym is for everyone as well because sometimes you can have maybe an unrealistic expectation of oh it’s not for me so I just won’t go and
It can feel a bit intimidating can’t it but one of the things that I kind of notice about your uh service particularly is it just sounds really fun so I was going to ask what kind of dance you do and if anyone’s if anyone’s interested do they get involved yeah of
Course so I’ve been dancing professionally for the last 10 years and my main background that I’ve done is Latin Style so in my classes I teach a lot of Latin base so if you think Strictly Come Dancing what the celebrities are going through at the beginning where they got to learn all of
The basic steps it’s a bit like that so it’s not like zumber in a way because it’s not all follow along I actually teach you so they come out learning something and I think that that’s really important learning a new skill can actually keep you going to something and
I feel like everybody learns something within the class the first class is always the hardest to guarantee if you come to the first class you might be a bit like overwhelmed thinking what step was that but once you do it more and more more often you do it the more steps
You’ll learn and the more confident you’ll feel you come out feeling like a you know at the end of the class so I would say um just it’s it doesn’t matter if you’re doing the right leg left leg wrong leg whatever leg as long as you’re
Having fun I’m a little bit Daft in the classes like telling jokes and keeping everybody smiling using those abdominals by just either laughing at me but you know keeping it in a fun like friendly atmosphere uh for anybody who wants to give it a go I do have leisure time
Table classes if you are wanting to do the weight management progr program of which I have nutrition alongside the dance you can sign up do a self- referral do it online it might not be that you want to do dance but you might need some nutrition advice you might
Need some help with any long-term conditions so it’s it’s then going to those health professionals and saying well what to be well have on author we are advertised in in a lot of the health environments uh clinics I mean you was on my bus stop at the bottom of my road
Weren you and the poster FAL advertising for the uh Leisure facilities so so you can find us uh quite easily there’s the um phone number if you do want to call 942 496 496 for the white management and directly get through to our memberships
As well FIS I was going to ask have you been to the dance classes to help you with your quick feet to get you round ring I haven’t know it’s has been on show you a few steps we are hopefully going to swap skills I was just going to
Ask a little bit more about so that that background with in in the ring and as a boxer so I’ve got friends who who do that kind of exercise because it’s good for your mental well-being as well isn’t it having those uh boundaries almost and yeah having that discipline so can you
Maybe just talk us through about your boxing Journey yeah so um my boxing Journey started back in 2007 that’s when I had my first fight at8 years old and then from there it grew and I boxed as an amateur under Wigan ABC with John lion who’s obviously got an NBA two-time
Olympian as well and then I moved to London and then I boxed for England in 2015 and won a GB title for England I won the London title and got to a national final as well for Repton and then I’ve just built on that and then finally I’ve decided to take the turnto
Turn professional so I’m in currently in the process of doing my Pro license and then hopefully take it as far as I can and put Wigan on the map so it could be this could be the year of your first like Pro definitely 100% what will be brilliant looking to fight three times
This year oh wow right okay well we’ll have to keep up with you then through the year and so see how you get on what what what classification are you I’ll be super lightweight which is 63.5 kilos right right we’ll have to follow f progression through this year then so
Throw it back to to both of you I was just going to ask I feel like for for you guys that it must be so great to see you know you’re following people who come in at maybe at this time of year and then you get to know them for you
Know for months don’t you we see the same sort of people in every single day and then when you see the same people in all the time and then you don’t see them you’re like where’s this person cuz um it’s it’s more of like a community and
It’s like Danielle said before about the the social aspect of it especially at the start when people might be feeling anxious or nervous to start and then they come in and then they see these people that are welcoming and everyone’s friendly and everyone’s chatty and you know people are getting to know each
Other Fitness is for everyone and there’s no one that should be excluded from from being able to to exercise and train and obviously feel great about themselves well I do find my job very rewarding I mean I get to see like uh people on the on the weight loss
Journeys so it might not be necessarily that they do end up losing weight at the end of the program but they’re happier and to me that’s even more of a reward for somebody who’s coming in confidently walking through door maybe in the first week they came in with like a large bag
Of t-shirt or large jogging bottoms and in the end of the 12 weeks they coming in with a tank top and leggings I mean just that confidence change is for me rewarding to see I mean I have had obviously really really good results with the weight loss one of my ladies
Lost eight stone and I got to see her progress doing that which was just for me such a a nice thing to help and and it was for her it was more about getting active so that she could look after her grandchildren and then now she’s going
Cycling with her grandkids and I think like I’ve helped that joury um and you know the emails that I get saying thank you obviously there just it’s really nice to have an impact on someone’s life in that way it’s amazing really and I do feel like you know it’s really rewarding
Job yeah it’s absolutely life-changing stuff isn’t it so well done to you both um and we’re looking forward to kind of watching your Journeys thank you very much thanks for coming on thank you thank you thanks to Danielle and fisel for bringing the energy into the room for
That one I think they gave us some really good tips and ones I’ll certainly be taking on board yeah there was some great tips there Rosie I think we can all take a bit of advice there from Danielle and fisel and there’s some great services on offer across the Bor
At our B centers and I’ve got a feeling that this next advert might be B related we’ll be back after the ad with Joe Mitchell looking to find your Fitness your local B Le Center has everything you need to achieve your goals whether you’re wanting to hit the gym go for a
Swim try a group exercise class or even discover a new sport our all-inclusive membership has you covered across seven different locations discover your local Leisure Center and join today at be well wi.org feel well live well be well so welcome back to the Bor Life podcast Joe you’re here again a year on
Please can you introduce yourself and tell us what your job title is thank you for inviting me back a year on so I mustn’t have upset your first time round so it’s Joe Mitchell assistant director customer experience and support thank you for having me back I think are you
Rosie is Joe our first return guest I think she is well done I think you might be I think you might be a record breaker oh so is that really good is that like special guest status yeah exactly and then you’ll be back this time next year
As well and we’ll just continue it on forever and ever be anniversary guests every time but the the real reason not just that you’re one of our favorites that’s not the only reason we’ve invited you back it’s to talk about here for you so if you cast your mind back to this
Time last year here for you was kind of in its infancy wasn’t it um and it’s still relevant today as it was back then and the cost of living crisis hasn’t um left us but there’s been tons of progress hasn’t there in here for you so
Please could you just give us a bit of an overview give us a bit of an overview of the last 12 months in a couple of minutes so here for you you know when I was here 12 months ago as you said was in its infancy and we WE 12 months down
The line and sadly it’s still so relevant and still so needed so here for you is something that our residents and our customers can use to see what they’re entitled to it’s something they can either use online to see what their entitlements are we encourage customers
To use it and not wait if if you really struggling financially or if you’re finding yourself where you’re thinking you know those debts are really mounting it’s that message of don’t wait contact us whether that be online or over the phone please get in touch with us and
Talk to us we don’t want people that are you know digitally excluded there are people either face to face or over the phone that can get in touch with and we’ve tried to make it as inclusive as possible so we’ve got messaging out there online we’ve got leaflets we’ve
Got people available in our libraries and our life centers so I don’t know whether you know that’s that’s two minutes it’s probably not two minutes that’s pretty good brilliant thanks Joe I think that was a really good summary really I’m G to like I said 12 months
Ago you two have worked really closely on this campaign so I’m going to kind of take a back step now Rosie and Joe you two can just have a chat we love our chats Rosie don’t we we do we’ve been working with citizens advice wig Andor and loads of different other partners to
Deliver events online messaging why has it been so important to bring so many different people on board I feel it’s important because it’s not something that we can deliver alone the cost of living crisis is impacting many households and the cost of living crisis is something that impacts us all you’ll
Have seen that we’ve done some events online on on Facebook where we’ve had auk on we’ve had citizens advice wi and B on where we We’ve ran some events online where we’ve had some question answer sessions and I think it’s important to do that so our residents
Can see that it’s not just about the council there to help they’ve got citizens advice buau they’ve got ageuk I think we’ve had the fire service on as well I’m not going to be able to list them all in this time but we’ve had lots of different services on our partner
Organizations we’ve got a broad spectrum of agencies out there that can help them through this cost of living crisis in partnership with the council yeah and I think what’s been evidenced me during those q&as is just how many experts there are available from those organizations so I’d really encourage
Anyone who’s listening who might be struggling just reach out and and there are people on hand to help so one of the things I just wanted to pick up with you Joe was our warm welcoming spaces and the community sector and how how the vcfs sector that’s mouthful um is a real
Credit to our B and they’ve brought together these warm welcom spaces I think there’s over 80 this year and last year we saw over 4,000 visitors to them so I was wondering what you think the impact of those spaces has been on local people they’ve been an absolute lifeline
And we’re so proud to have them again this year we’ve also got them in our 15 libraries so we’ve seen many visitors and they’re an absolute Lifeline for our many residents they’re also for not just about keeping warm War because we’ve seen Energy prices sore again you know
Uh but also from a a loneliness perspective again they’ve just been fantastic had a fantastic response from our voluntary sector I actually was lucky enough to visit one of our warm welcoming spaces at St Judes in pool stck I had the best day ever it was a lovely kind of community atmosphere
Everyone was so welcoming obviously it was in the name but we we’re all having aov it was just before Christmas we’re making some Advent wreaths and what I really found special about the experience was there was one lady who couldn’t make it on the week that I
Attended and 20 people must have asked where is she is she all right and I just thought that that looking out for each other was really inspiring that kind of sums up what it’s all about definitely I don’t think many people realize as well that we have some our Leisure facilities
Our B well offer also has them you can go into our Leisure facilities for that well warm welcome in space as well yeah definitely and I think you know it’s been a cold winter but like you say the key point there is is that it’s about community and meeting people and not
Being afraid to go and find some new people because you will receive a warm welcome yeah so thanks Joe for coming back on um I’m sure we’ll see you again in the future on the podcast H but it’s been bril to have you on and thank you
So much for inviting me for a second time and I look forward to my third invite Third Time Lucky thank you so thank the Joe for that insight into here for you cost of living campaign as we said Joe was our first guest and here she is is 12 months
On still working hard to help residents across our B yeah and I’ve got a bit of a quiz for you Rosie now so first up if people have heard about that here for you campaign and want to access some of the services where can they find a bit
More info so if you head to our website wig. goo. here you or if you don’t have access to the internet just head into one of our life centers or libraries ask for help as soon as you can um and we’ll we’ll be there to point you in the right
Direction you don’t have to go through it all alone second question if anybody wants to know more about Bor life the magazine Bor life plus the podcast go back and listen to a Year’s worth of episodes where do they do that Rosie it’s a good job I know my links isn’t it
So head to wig. gov.uk Bor life for the magazine our Bor life plus Pages or if you want to listen to the podcast or any of the episodes we’ve got in our back catalog just head to Spotify Apple music acast all your major streaming platforms I’ve always wanted to say that and they
All be there waiting for you thanks Rosie two from two great answers you passed the test I’ll see you back here for February’s episode thanks everyone and we’ll see you next time bye for me see you next Time