Highly commended accolade for Diversity and Inclusion by ukactive

We’ve been highly commended at the prestigious ukactive Awards for our work on Diversity and Inclusion, while our Fitness Manager Marek Wisniewski came runner-up in the hotly contested Physical Activity Hero of the Year category. 

The recognition is for our programme in collaboration with the mental health charity MIND to support those with mental health challenges get active. 
 
At the Aquadrome, we have been delivering free drop-in sessions for people who are living with mental health conditions that have been referred to us by charity’s branch in Andover.  

Many of the participants that came to us had never exercised before and the thought of going to a gym was extremely daunting. To make sure we delivered a good programme, we have also partnered with Andover Mind to ensure our team have completed mental health training to ensure they are equipped with a deeper understanding of dealing with mental health to be able to help effectively. 

Each session is led by a Level 3 qualified fitness instructor with additional Mental Health First Aid training who is accompanied by a member staff from Andover MIND.   

Our team take a gentle and friendly approach to greet participants with free teas and coffees and they then use their training and expertise to adapt exercise to be more accessible for those who have overcome the first hurdle which is to walk into our centre. 

Marek and the team have helped over 40 people in the local area to have the confidence and lead more active lifestyles and reap the benefits via the programme and are looking to expand the programme and help more people.  

If you’d like to find out more or enquire about participating in the MIND programme, please complete our Contact Us form with your details, choose the General Query option under ‘Nature of Query’ and briefly state with your query.