Charley's Story
Charley attended the Get on Track for Wellbeing programme in Liverpool starting in November 2019. Led by athlete mentors Henry Cookey and Neil Danns, Charley gained confidence and became much more active over the course of the 12 month programme.
Charley had been bullied previously because of her speech impediment and her situation at home. Before attending Get on Track she believed it when people said she wasn't worth anything and because of this she didn't interact with other people and just kept herself to herself and became very isolated.
Get on Track for Wellbeing is all about improving quality of life by getting young people more physically active, enabling the group to try out new activities and getting them out of their comfort zones. In the video you can see Charley attending a session at Henry's Ninja Warrior gym but she and the rest of the group also tried out free running, skating at Rampworx, football and loads of other activities.
“I was terrified to be honest (of the Ninja gym) but doing some of the activities was amazing! Climbing over that wall was terrifying... but I do want to get into more sport and improve my strength and my health. ”
The video shows how much Charley's confidence and wellbeing has improved when we visited the project again nearly a year later. Henry describes Charley as a totally different person, so much more positive and willing to try new things. By the end of the programme he sees how the whole group including Charley, understand how good physical activity can be not just for your health and fitness but also for your mental wellbeing.
“I was like a nervous wreck at the beginning, I was scared to be myself. But now I’m going to the gym by myself just to work out and I have the confidence to go up and speak to people. You just change the way you think and you believe in yourself. I’m thinking about going back to college or doing an apprenticeship, so that means I can go to uni. It’s just been a life change.”
Charley attended the Get on Track for Wellbeing programme in Liverpool. Thanks to funding from Sport England, we are working with 700 young people in coastal communities all across England to help them become more active.