Abbeycroft Leisure is a not-for-profit social enterprise working for the whole community, providing quality facilities and opportunities to lead a healthier, active lifestyle.
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From the Festive Food Initiative to Together During Lockdown, Abbeycroft Lesiure has provided huge support to the community. One of these programmes is called Active Mums – and here, Holly (not her real name) shares her story.
Holly used to be very active. She played football for a local team, danced at a dance school and played hockey for her college. But as she grew up and became a fan of partying, exercise just wasn’t her priority anymore. As the years passed, she tried at times to get back into it – but she never succeeded. That is, until her midwife told her about Active Mums™.
Active Mums aims to inspire mums to be the best they can be by looking after themselves. This gives their babies the best possible start in life. Holly says the support has been amazing: not only has she made friends and dramatically improved her health, but Active Mums got her out of the house on a Monday morning. Once her son was born, she wasn’t getting a lot of sleep and didn’t want to leave the house very often – but she would make an exception for Active Mums.
It’s not just the friendship and health benefits that Holly enjoys: she says the information she’s learned is crucial too. You’re given ‘so much useful information that is so relevant to your pregnancy and the development of your baby,’ she says. As for her health, Holly is the healthiest she’s been in fifteen years. She’s now running three times a week and takes the kids out for walks. She watches what she eats as she wants to show to kids the healthiest way to live. The cherry on the top, she says, would be having an hour to herself to go to the gym or for a swim.