Reflecting on Community Strides

Our Community Strides project concluded in January, with a period of reflection on what had been achieved over its two years, and planning to ensure those achievements would continue into the future. The project, backed by the Changing Lives Fund, aimed to bring the benefits of jogscotland to people from a greater diversity of Scotland’s communities.

The Charter International Run Club Saheliya Dundee International Women’s Centre

The first stage of the project was all about building relationships with partner organisations, community groups and participants, including, Dundee International Women’s Centre, The Charter in Glasgow, and Saheliya, a charity in Edinburgh for black, minority ethnic, asylum seeker, refugee and migrant women and girls. Project workers Andrea Gavin and Laura Kirkland initially spent several months getting to know the charities and their work, and especially some of the people who use their services, finding out about their motivations and challenges around getting active. For many, there was a real fear of being seen exercising outside, of stigma from peers and others from the community, a lack of confidence and fitness that at first had them reluctant to get involved. Like many who come to jogscotland for the first time, there were some participants who had never taken part in physical activity in their adult lives. We looked at ways to break down the barriers that prevented participation – we arranged a shoe and clothing collection across the jogscotland network to provide kit for those who didn’t have it; found a sewing group to modify some of the garments continues over

Laura and Andrea At the SWiS Awards

to make them suitable for those who prefer more modest clothing; arranged for talks and taster sessions. Slowly, more and more people started to give it a go with the support of trusted and well-respected people from community organisations. When the pandemic hit, everyone involved had to think fast to adapt. Some group participants ran individually throughout lockdown, some took to weekly Zoom sessions and others waited patiently for restrictions to lift before joining their local jogscotland group. Pandemic aside, the second year of the project was inspiring, as group members grew in confidence and experienced improvements in their physical and mental health, and feelings of inclusion and connectedness. At the end of the project, we ensured jog leaders were in place to continue groups wherever possible – thank you to those who have stepped in to help! We were delighted that the group at Saheliya won the Active Scotland Community Sport Champion award at the Scottish Women in Sport awards 2020. The Community Strides project as a whole contributed to jogscotland winning the Innovation in Sport Award at the same awards in 2019. Of course, the end of the project also meant bidding a sad farewell to Andrea and Laura. They originally joined the jogscotland staff team in November 2017 as Communities Project Coordinator and Participation Coordinator, working to help establish new jogscotland groups in communities that lacked them. Development officer for jogscotland, Jo Stevens, said: “We’re grateful to the Changing Lives Fund for helping us extend jogscotland’s reach into some communities which haven’t always been well-represented among our membership. “It was brilliant to see how the project participants grew in confidence and enthusiasm over the two years – huge thanks to all of them for being up for the challenge of getting active! Thanks also to all our partners, and of course to Andrea and Laura for the great contribution they have made over their time with jogscotland. We’re now looking at how we can build on the vital groundwork done by Community Strides.”

Walk, jog, run with jogscotland

Get fit and have fun with our sociable, supportive jogging groups for all levels – beginners welcome! Affordable, friendly sessions with trained Jog Leaders.