Nantwich fitness group tackling loneliness celebrates first anniversary
A Nantwich fitness group created to help older people stay active while tackling loneliness and isolation is celebrating its first anniversary.
By Nantwich News
A Nantwich fitness group set up to help older people stay active while reducing loneliness and isolation is celebrating its first anniversary.
Feel Good Gold was launched by local fitness instructor and personal trainer Clare Eaton after she became increasingly concerned about the number of older people experiencing isolation.
The initiative combines gentle exercise with an opportunity to socialise, giving participants a regular place to meet other people while improving their strength, mobility and confidence.
Sessions are held at Nantwich Youth and Community Centre in Birchin Lane and are designed to be accessible to people with different levels of fitness.
Each session combines around 30 minutes of gentle strength and resistance exercises with time afterwards for tea, coffee and conversation.
Clare created Feel Good Gold after her own experience of caring for her elderly mother made her increasingly aware of the effects that loneliness and reduced physical activity can have on older people.
When the group was launched, she said she wanted to create somewhere people could exercise safely while also having something to look forward to each week.
Over the following 12 months, that combination of exercise and companionship has helped the group establish itself as part of the Nantwich community.
The emphasis is not simply on conventional fitness training.
Exercises are intended to support everyday movement and independence, while the social part of each session gives members an opportunity to make friends and spend time with others.
Feel Good Gold grew out of Clare’s wider Feel Good Health and Fitness community.
Her involvement in community fitness began during the Covid lockdown, when she started running online sessions to allow people to exercise together despite being unable to attend classes in person.
Those sessions developed into a wider fitness community, with face-to-face classes subsequently established around the Nantwich area.
Feel Good Gold was created specifically with older residents in mind.
The group’s first anniversary marks a year since the original sessions began at Nantwich Youth and Community Centre, where the programme continues to provide both physical activity and social contact.
For Clare, the aim remains the same as when the first class was launched: helping people feel fitter and stronger while creating a welcoming community where nobody needs to exercise — or spend their time — alone.