West London Get Fit staff spotlight – Laura Gaga, ‘Sole Mates’ walking group

Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT) have been getting involved with West London’s Get Fit Campaign by setting up their own walking group ‘Sole Mates.’ The group meet weekly and walk for around 30 minutes, taking in views of the local area. They’ve had a great turn out since starting the group, with the Sole Mates team motivating and promoting each other’s physical and mental health.

Here, Laura Gaga, (SCFT) Forensic Social Supervisor tells us all about it… 

Why do you stay active and what does West London Get Fit mean to you? 

A few of us in the office were talking about individual goals such us wanting to lose weight, feel fitter, begin running. Others noticed that I’d run during my lunch break from time to time and suggested that we come together as a group to keep one another motivated and accountable.

We’re a group of varied fitness levels and capabilities, so agreed that it would be a walking group rather than running. This way we could comfortably talk to one another and would be more likely to stick to it, rather than - excuse the pun - running before we can walk!

We do have the odd person take it up to a jog, but the main thing is that we get out every week. We spent a couple of weeks talking about it, creating a bit of a buzz, psyching ourselves up, and had our first Sole Mates session on Monday 16 January this year and walk every Monday for half an hour.

The West London Get Fit campaign has definitely been inspiring and made us all the more motivated to commit to it.

What challenges do you often face when exercising?

Our first challenge is to have the group run for 6 consecutive weeks. With exercise, a new routine, one of the hardest parts can be sticking to it, so in the first instance we want to achieve consistency. We intend to walk no matter the weather. 

What is your biggest motivation?

There are endless benefits of walking, being in nature, and being with others; including cardiovascular health, reduced stress, anxiety, increased energy, resilience, greater focus, concentration, improved mood, sleep.

Another is the relational benefit of ‘getting to know one another as a team, a sense of camaraderie - so another goal would be promoting togetherness and a feeling of inclusivity. Longer term, we want to build confidence, for one another to pursue our own fitness, wellness, goals such as running, increasing activity levels throughout the week, whether that’s on our own, or with others.

Well done Laura and the Sole Mates walking group for keeping us all motivated!