Happy Birthday In It Together!

1 Year of providing activity to the whole of Somerset!

Now IIT has actually been run before, covering south Somerset, but this time we went big! This time, we’ve covered the whole county and we’ve been doing so for a whole year! It took a couple of months for implementation whilst I gathered details on instructors, previous courses and learnt many of the towns, villages, and hamlets of Somerset. From Frome to Highbridge, Bridgwater to Wincanton, I’ve navigated some great country roads. And yet, there are still places that have gone uncovered! I will make that my 2023 goal!

It’s been a great year with so many highs. We kicked off the project with running with Cherry, Fitsteps with Emma, and self-defence with Debbie in South Somerset, and we’ve seen variety ever since. Tae kwon do, Pilates, Yoga, aqua aerobics, nordic walking, street dance, Tennis, Clubbercise to name but a few. Thank you to everyone who has signed up and participated in these courses; that’s well over 400+ women from January to November who have done one, two and even three of our courses. This is just amazing!

I’m just so proud and so thrilled that you signed up, turned up and tried it. Maybe after 6 weeks, you thought, “I’ve given it a go, and that’s what I wanted to do” that’s brilliant. We call that ‘exercise dating’, and it’s an incredibly welcome practice. And then we have those that have gone on to join the clubs and become members of the sport they signed up to do, and that is incredible too! I’ve LOVED receiving your feedback. There have been moments when your email has been at the top of my inbox and therefore the first I read, and they have set my day up right. When I’m tired or I’m ever slightly edgy about whether your first class went okay, I then get that email that tells me how much you enjoyed it, and that stuff gets me really buzzed!

Here are a few testimonials from across the year:

“Just wanted to say thank you for organising the tennis course at Somerton.  I really enjoyed it -great coaching,  great group of ladies and great fun. The perfect no-pressure environment to get back out there after having baby #2 in the spring.  And loved picking up a tennis racquet after 20 years!!” – Tennis, Somerton

“Just to let you know that I really enjoyed these sessions and my confidence in the deep end has improved.” – AquaHappy, Aller

“We only have 1 more week left and we can’t bear for it to stop! The day, time and venue is perfect” – Yoga, Taunton

“We have had such fun with the walking football and Caroline.” –  Walking Football, Bridgwater

I owe a huge thank you to my colleagues in Marketing, Sarah Crossley especially who has done some phenomenal work keeping adverts rolling out, the socials up to date, and helping to bring In It Together to life online and outside. She’s heard my hair-brained ideas and my slightly better ones. We bounce off each other so well that we can keep bringing new and exciting things to the project, including the Somerset Moves podcast, which will involve a few conversations from In It Together.

Other big thanks go to every single instructor that has and is running a course on the project! You have all done superbly; bringing fun and good feelings to movement! Thank you for all your hard work, great planning and support for the project.

A very special mention goes to my colleague Abbie who does an awesome job of the Thursday night Social Netball League under the In It Together name. Abbie works so hard to plan, organize, promote, play and keep the whole thing going so that women can play Netball, and she does it superbly. Thank you Abbie!

So here’s to another year! From December, we’ll quieten down a little whilst we prepare for the New Year. We’ll be kicking it off with a well-being guide “20TwentyME – The Year of You”.  The guide will feature tips from our sustainability partners, recipes from SASP colleagues, top advice from instructors and other little ways to make moving more, more enjoyable. It’s there to support you in making healthier choices, no matter how small, all are significant!

We’ll bring lots more courses to the whole of Somerset, but don’t forget to let us know what you want. I will always do my best to try and make it work. It might not be immediately, but I will always try to make it happen at some point.

If you’d like to support In It Together by becoming an ambassador, please do get in touch. It won’t be a lot of work, I promise. But maybe a few appearances on film or at an event, or maybe you do some social media engagement for us, sharing posts and taking pictures. Or even meeting up with other women for a cuppa and a chat, online or in person. There are lots of ways you can support the project, so if you would like to, please contact me by emailing cnorman@sasp.co.uk.

Written by Charlotte Norman, Women’s Development Officer