Jill's Active Teams story

Before joining Active Teams, I was already reasonably active. I attended the gym three to five times a week, with my main focus being weight training, alongside some light cardio on the exercise bike and regular walking.

If I'm honest, I would have firmly placed myself in the "no cardio" category. Having been plus-size all my life, cardio never felt particularly comfortable for me and, when I was younger, it was something I avoided for a variety of reasons.

Discovering Active Teams

Our line manager first introduced us to Active Teams. They are an active person themselves and always encourage positive conversations around fitness, health and wellbeing.

One of the things I enjoy about Active Teams is the range of challenges that bring colleagues together. Being part of a team with people you work alongside every day has encouraged more lunchtime walks, conversations about how we're staying active outside of work, and a healthy sense of competition between colleagues.

It's been great to see people sharing ideas, encouraging one another and celebrating each other's achievements.

Trying something new

At one point, I had a short period where I couldn't get to the gym for a few weeks. I wanted to find another way to stay active and keep building my active minutes, so I decided to give Couch to 5K a try.

It was something I had thought about before but never acted on. I never really saw myself as a runner and couldn't imagine being able to run for more than a few seconds at a time.

Fast forward to today, and I'm now in week eight of the Couch to 5K programme, with just one week left to complete. Not only have I surprised myself by sticking with it, but I'm also already thinking about how I can continue running once the programme finishes.

For me, that's probably been one of the biggest personal successes to come out of Active Teams. It gave me the motivation to try something I never thought I could do.

Small changes, big benefits

As a team, we've definitely embraced more opportunities to move throughout the working day. We've introduced more walking meetings, made better use of lunch breaks and taken short ten-minute walks whenever possible.

These small changes have made a real difference and have been good for the mind, body and soul.

Looking back

Overall, I believe Active Teams has been incredibly positive for both myself and the people involved.

Whether it's encouraged someone to become more active, helped them try something new, or simply started a positive conversation about health and wellbeing, the programme has had a meaningful impact.

The experience has reinforced the idea that there are many different ways to move our bodies and look after our health. Making those positive choices becomes much easier when you're surrounded by encouragement, support and people who are cheering you on.

For me, Active Teams gave me the confidence to step outside my comfort zone and discover that I was capable of more than I thought.