"As a professional sportsperson you get paid for being fit but now its a lifestyle choice."
HE was revered in Wigan for his lightning speed and clinical finishing. But in recent years he’s won a legion of new fans for waltzing in front of millions of TV viewers. Now rugby league legend Martin Offiah has thrown his support behind a scheme aiming to make it easier for adults with jam packed lives to become fitter and healthier.
The former Central Park winger and star of the first series of Strictly Come Dancing is backing a new project in Wigan and Leigh for people struggling to juggle a busy home and work life with taking part in regular physical activity. From the dance floor to the rugby pitch, Your Choice offers a range of fun and enjoyable sport, dance and fitness opportunities in accessible settings such as workplaces, colleges and community venues at times more suitable to a 21st Century lifestyle.
Free 30 minute Get Active one-to-one sessions are also available in libraries and children’s centres across the borough. With a two and a half year old son Martin knows exactly how hard balancing family life and fitness can be.
Martin, 42, says: “Fitness and being active have always been important in my life. As a professional sportsperson you get paid for being fit but now it’s a lifestyle choice. But when you have children, usually a trip to the gym is the first thing that falls by the wayside when you’re struggling to fit everything into the day. That’s why this type of scheme, that brings the opportunity closer to home and at more convenient times, is so important.”
It’s hoped the three year project will increase participation in physical activity and reduce obesity rates and the risk of chronic diseases occurring. Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust and NHS Ashton, Leigh and Wigan are behind Your Choice. In Wigan, 31 per cent of the population is obese and just 21.2% of the borough’s 300,000 residents participate in physical activity.
Nick Colledge, Sport and Healthy Living Manager for the leisure trust said: “Juggling work and home life isn’t easy. Your Choice is about making it easier for people to access physical activity so they can live healthier, happier lives.”
For more information visit Your Choice (external link) or call 01942 828 569.
