Members of a Worcester activity programme have celebrated 16 years of fitness and friendship at their annual post-Christmas celebration.
Around 40 members of the Senior Physical Activity and Adapted Sports programme met with instructors at the Maple Leaf Pub on Canada Way in Worcester.
The programme, run by the University of Worcester, is not limited by age and involves all kinds of adapted sports, including walking versions of football, netball, basketball and more.
Members of the group can also join the Fall Safe Programme, working to actively reduce the likelihood of a fall occurring and reducing the impact on the individual if a fall does occur.
Group member Carole Driscoll said: “I started going to the gym, and the Fall Safe Programme, and it has been so good for my core strength.”
She added: “Everyone we’ve met here is friendly, and we’ve all got something in common; we want to keep ourselves fit, strong and well.”
SPAAS member Lynne Box said: “It’s great. It gets me doing exercise and the falls programme is wonderful. I do walking netball and my husband does walking football, so we take full advantage of everything we can on the SPAAS programme.”
She added: “You get to meet new people; I’ve met a whole new group of friends through netball and we all go for coffee afterwards.”
Marc Scriven, Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Worcester, oversees the sessions.
He said: “I’ve calculated that we’ve had more than 47,000 individual visits to the SPAAS programme over the 16 years we’ve been running it, and this annual celebration is always very special for us.”
He continued: “As you can see, people who join the programme become part of a really close-knit community of friends, and moments like this remind us that the benefits of being active go far beyond improving your physical health.”
He added: “We’re a big group, but we’re always welcoming new members, and January is a great time for people to think about improving their physical fitness.”
To find out more about the programme, visit the University of Worcester’s website or email spaas@worc.ac.uk
For information on courses at University of Worcester visit www.worcester.ac.uk or for application enquiries, telephone 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk