Fitness program awaits funding approval

A program that has been offering free fitness classes at the park adjacent to Umina Oval since August 2014 is waiting for funding approval by Central Coast Council.

The program, Live Life Get Active, was started in 2014 by former Olympian Ms Jane Flemming and her partner Amanda King.

"Our whole vision is to improve the health of Australians who can't afford to do very much to improve their own health including retirees and single mothers," Ms King said.

"Those are the people who have got a higher risk due to obesity, diabetes, pre-diabetes and depression and a lot of the depression is associated with the health but also a lack of connectivity with the community," she said.

"We have an interlinking strategy that looks at nutrition, fitness, motivation and community.

"This is about getting people and showing them how fun getting fit can be and offering them a non-intimidating environment.

"Our average member is a 37-year-old mum.

"In the case of Umina, we've also got retirees or people who are doing part time work who don't have big incomes.

"Everything we offer is completely free of charge and there never will be a fee.

"We supply all the equipment and all our trainers are certified level 4, all have full insurance, and all are fully trained.

"We get funding from commercial partners or funding from Council or from grants and we have just started to approach Primary health Care Networks.

"We went to the then Gosford Council and asked them if they would be interested in providing a camp in the area because we knew there were high levels of disconnectedness and at-risk people.

"Gosford Council funded the Umina camp for two years and then with the new Council coming on board we approached them again and they wanted us to apply for the grant which we have done and I think that was due to come out at the beginning of November but it has been delayed to the beginning of December," Ms King said.

When the Umina camp was fully funded, members could participate in yoga, cross training and boxing for 45 minutes from Monday to Friday.

Until the funding situation is resolved Live Life Get Active is maintaining yoga on Friday mornings from 9:30am to 10:15am.

"We prefer to do the three activities because cross training is a really good cardio exercise, boxing is really good for toning, and yoga is good for flexibility and stress relief.

"The Umina camp is packed so we are just very hopeful that it will be a positive outcome.

"It is run in a good area near the beach because it's got parking and we have a really group group of people there.

Ms King said 28 to 30 people participated in the Umina camp every day it is run.

"We open up our bookings on a Wednesday night and the week is fully booked by Thursday lunch time," she said.

Ms King said the idea for Live Life Get Active came from reading a report that said 60 per cent of the population would be classified as obese by 2025 and "our children would be the fattest generation there had ever been.

"By 2015 we were going into communities where the obesity rate was 70 per cent already and our focus is on reducing risk and improving mental health so people feel more positive about themselves.

"We have measured outcomes and the Umina camp started at a five out of 10 rating for positivity and went up to an eight out of 10 in terms of positivity over a 2.5 year period.

Ms King said Central Coast Council had been very helpful.

"It has just taken a little bit longer than they anticipated so we are just waiting to hear that we were successful in obtaining grant.

"We started in Umina on August 18, 2014 and when we turned up, the mayor was there and it was pouring with rain and all of a sudden people came out of their cars and we went under the shelter and we had a full camp working out in the rain," she said.

Some 959 people have signed up for the Umina camp from all over the Peninsula.

Those people collectively lost 106kg over the 2.5 years and 805cm from their waists.

"That is only 51 per cent of the camp recording their achievements," she said.

SOURCE:

Interview, 23 Nov 2017

Amanda King, Live Life Get Active