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Health and Wellbeing

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Our FAAF co-ordinator is Sue Hart.

Sue is a qualified PE and Art teacher, her experience spanning 30 years. She has taught at various Coventry Schools including Whitley Abbey, Coundon Court and Cardinal Wiseman. She was also the Director of a fitness club in Coventry.

"If people stop being active at 50 that is going to cause major problems when they get older", says Sue. But help is at hand in Coventry thanks to Age Concern’s Fit As A Fiddle campaign.

The charity launched it’s £15 million programme in November 2008 to help older people to stay active into the autumn of their lives. Over the past 12 months it has organised 16 classes across the city offering a range of different activities.

The aim is to provide something that everyone over the age of 50 can get involved with – regardless of their physical ability – and cut down the number of older people who end up isolated in their own homes.

Sue says, “The more able can take part in more active sessions, like badminton, indoor bowls, boogie classes and table tennis, while the less able can take part in seated exercises. And it’s not just physical exercise – it can be anything which helps to make people feel better about themselves, such as singing and music. I used to work in a hospital and a lot of people were coming to have hip and knee replacements at a younger age.”

“We are trying to stop that happening by keeping people over the age of 50 active and moving. Hopefully, that will help to give them a better quality of life into their older age.”

The annual health report, The Coventry Time Bomb, issued a stark warning about the killer illnesses which await the city’s residents after years of unhealthy living. Coventry’s biggest offenders are heart disease, lung cancer, liver disease, stroke, lung disease and diabetes – all of which are linked to an unhealthy lifestyle. Together they cause two out of every five deaths in the city.

Men aged over 50 could add nearly four years to their life expectancy and women could gain an extra three years. And it is never too late, even taking up low-level exercise at the age of 70 can add more than 30 months to your life expectancy, more than half of which is likely to be free from heart disease.

Berni Lee, consultant in public health at NHS Coventry, said: “It is never too late to start exercising, no matter what your age.”

“There is increasing evidence that physical activity is beneficial to health at all ages. Regular physical activity of moderate intensity, such as brisk walking, can bring about major health benefits.

“It can help to reduce coronary heart disease and obesity, high blood pressure, depression and anxiety. Even relatively small increases in physical activity can protect against chronic disease and improve quality of life.

“The chief medical officer recommends at least 30 minutes of physical activity five times per week, but great benefits can be achieved through people building small amounts of activity into their daily life.”

Please click below to find out more about our classes and activities or how to contact us.

FIT AS A FIDDLE
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