Exercise on the up for Glasgow residents
GLASGOW residents are finding vitality and living active – thanks to increasingly popular programmes.
More people than ever across Greater Glasgow and Clyde are signing up for some form of physical activity as part of three exercise programmes designed to meet individual needs.
From walking clubs to individual exercise classes, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has developed three physical activity programmes for different needs.
In 2016/17 there were more than 720 new walkers signed up for the ‘Health Walk’ classes, which offer short, safe, social , fun and accessible low level walks led by trained volunteers.
Attendance last year was more than 43,000 and there were also 175 new volun- teer walk leaders signed up for training.
Vitality, a programme of exercise classes for people with different physical abilities and medical conditions, saw nearly 100,000 attendances recorded last year across 160 weekly classes.
Meanwhile, Live Active, for patients who are not currently taking much exercise but are motivated to get more active, is also growing in popularity.
Dr Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health, said: “We have already seen a 79 per cent increase in referrals to physical activity support from our acute service. There is excellent information available to ensure that people across Glasgow are aware of what activity is available to them and how to access it.”