Welcome to Women’s Health
Welcome to the final issue of Women’s Health of 2020. It would be easy for me to use this letter to look back on what a nightmare this year has been. But I’m choosing not to concentrate on the swirling negativity and uncertainty that continues to blight our lives. Instead, I want to focus on the positives and celebrate what we’ve achieved – you, me and all the wonderful women who engage daily with this empowering brand.
I put the question to my brilliant team: ‘What’s come out of 2020 that’s worthy of celebration?’ Their answers came in thick and fast. Unsurprisingly, a social shift towards prioritising health and fitness topped their lists. This was the year when people sat up and realised how crucial and potentially life-saving leading a healthy and balanced lifestyle can be. Hundreds of thousands of families, my own included, joined PE With Joe every morning during lockdown. I galvanised my two children, Zak, eight, and five-year-old Nell, to jump around the living room to Joe Wicks at 9am and it became part of our routine; the anchor to our day and a bonding experience I’ll cherish forever.
In April and May, millions of you took part in our two Women’s Health Live Virtual events, working out with the likes of Kayla Itsines and Jillian Michaels.
Who would have thought that at-home workouts would become such a fixture that, even with gyms now open, 62% of you told us in a recent survey that you’re still exclusively exercising at home? Head to Women’s Health’s Youtube channel if you’re in need of some inspiration.
And let’s give a shout-out to those of you who discovered running in lockdown.
According to NHS England, the Couch To 5k app was downloaded nearly a million times between March and the end of June. Special kudos to those who ran the London Marathon in October in their own communities. Running 26.2 miles with thousands of spectators cheering you on is one thing, pounding the pavements alone for several hours on a rainy autumn Sunday is quite another.
And let’s celebrate the fact that people made an effort to look out for each other; by volunteering at food banks, doing shopping trips for shielding neighbours and by simply taking the time to ask each other ‘are you okay?’ and really listening to the answer. Some of the most heartwarming scenes were when millions of us took to the streets at 8pm every Thursday to clap for our carers. What started with a round of polite applause on our doorsteps turned into loud, saucepan-banging, whooping, joyous scenes – a nationwide thank you to the people working on the front line.
Emotions of a different kind ran high in June, after the killing of George Floyd in the US in May caused people the world over to reappraise their understanding of racism and its role in society today. WH remains utterly committed to amplifying Black voices within these pages (speaking of which, do read writer Nadine White’s investigation into the scandalous racial disparity in maternal mortality rates on page 114).
So, as we head into 2021, there’s so much we can take from this past year. I believe that, as a society, we’ve become more compassionate, more patient.
We’re no longer sweating the small stuff, as we’ve realised the simple things in life – love, family, friends and fun – are more important. I’m determined to enjoy Christmas. It may be different this year, and some of the traditions I normally look forward to – like taking my children to sing carols with the brass band on my local high street on Christmas Eve – probably won’t happen. But I’m healthy, and my loved ones are healthy, and that’s something to be eternally grateful for.
Finally, I want to thank my team, to whom I’m indebted for the dedication and enthusiasm they’ve shown while working under extraordinary circumstances. And I want to thank you for supporting Women’s Health. We wouldn’t be here without your passion for the content we work so hard to create.
So, all that’s left for me to say is merry Christmas and, as always, I hope you enjoy the issue. Until 2021...