A recent Exercise Referral Health Event at Hillsborough Arena Sports Association is just one event that is being highlighted on The People’s Movement’s online calendar to promote physical activity events.

By logging onto Sheffield’s physical activity campaign website, www.thepeoplesmovement.co.uk, people will be able to view the online calendar and find out about different health and fitness events happening over the coming months. The Exercise Referral Health day was one of the first events on this years’ calendar and proved a big success.

Amongst the 74 people that attended, health professionals from Activity Sheffield and other organisations including Hillsborough Leisure Centre, the Upperthorpe Health Living Centre, the Sheffield NHS Stop Smoking Service and Heeley City Farm, were on hand to give out specialist advice.

The aim of the Exercise Referral Health event was to provide people with information and advice around physical activity and also give them the opportunity to try different activity sessions, such as Salsacise, Health Walks, Belly Dancing, Boccia and chair based exercises, that they may not have the confidence to try-out in their local community.

People who attended the event had either been referred to the Active Lifestyle Project, which is a project that works with individuals who have Coronary Heart Disease and/or Diabetes, or Sheffield’s city-wide Community Healthwise Exercise Referral Scheme, which is available for people who have been referred by their GP for various health problems.

Brenda Brooks, aged 67, from Grenoside in Sheffield attended the Exercise Referral Health event with her sister-in-law after being referred to the Active Lifestyle Project to help manage her diabetes. She said: “I have found the event really useful, the chair aerobics, Boccia, salsa and belly dancing really got our hearts racing! All the information that I received was helpful and I’ve enjoyed being part of the scheme. My sister-in-law is retiring next year and she really wants to join the scheme to make sure she stays fit and healthy.”

Councillor Mike Pye, Cabinet Advisor for Culture at Sheffield City Council, said: “This event is just one of many that are now listed on the People’s Movement online calendar. There are many ways that everyone in the city can start or increase their physical activity and this calendar will help people to achieve their goals. By publishing events we hope to raise awareness of the amount of physical activity that there is going on in the city.”

For more information about referral schemes, please contact Activity Sheffield’s Referral Team on 0114 203 9528.