"I am more likely to join a running club if I see at least one person who looks like me"

Subitha is from Sri Lanka and moved to the Cotswolds when she was 10 years old. She grew up in the UK in a mainly white community and because of racism and lack of inclusion, she often found physical activity in school difficult to access, her confidence was low. She was usually picked last for teams in school PE lessons.

Movement is now an important part of her life. Her work is dedicated to reaching multi ethnic communities who are at a higher risk of long term health conditions to encourage movement to support more self-agency and self-care to improve health, such as for conditions like Type 2 diabetes, or to lower risk of issues such as stroke.

Subitha has two daughters and discovered the benefits of moving more following the birth of her first child. Three months after the birth, she start running, as a way of getting a break, an easy way to get out of the house, thanks to her supportive partner. She had not run much before and began with walk/jogging then worked up to running. She used the time outside to herself to recharge and clear her head. Her daughter also saw the benefits and encouraged her to “go run as you are a happier Mama when you come back”.

She was also empowered by a midwife to continue cycling to work while pregnant which she found a fantastic way to keep fit before having her daughters. Her fitness helped her have two enjoyable, smooth home births. She ran the Bristol Half Marathon for the first time when pregnant with her second daughter.

Subitha said:

“As a brown woman, I am more likely to join a running club if I see at least one person who looks like me. My work over the past 10+ years is dedicated to improving health of people from multi- ethnic communities, more recently- since the Covid period- with a focus on movement. Part of the way I do this is by trying to improve the representation in the fitness workforce to include more people from different backgrounds and ethnicities, and engaging directly with a range of communities.

“From my experience working across South Asian, Caribbean, Chinese and other multi-ethnic communities, you are more likely to go along if the person running the session is someone trusted from your own community or at least is aware of cultural sensitivities that can impact movement – such as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan when many Muslim people fast- or even acknowledging cultural events such as Diwali or Lunar New Year instead of being oblivious to them.

“I am a ReACT instructor: a falls prevention programme which was established in Easton and St Paul’s, Bristol in 2023. I also worked to manage the start-up of this programme until May 2024, including developing a multi-ethnic team of instructors. The class is a mixture of balance, stretch and strength exercises that is shown to significantly reduce the risk of falling for older people and engender active ageing, based on a successful three-year clinical study that has featured in The Lancet. The classes are also a great place to meet new friends, reducing isolation and it’s fun! As part of the classes I teach, I make sure that the group tell me their music preferences. We hear everything from Elvis, Cuban music to Bollywood film songs, which again is actively inclusive.

“I am a cheerleader for the Every Move Matters campaign. I think it’s valuable to talk about movement and not exercise. I believe it’s essential to offer movement that is genuinely inclusive and adaptable. For example: with the Sport England grant I helped the Bangladesh Men’s over 50s group to secure in 2023, I taught them Nordic Walking in a local park when the weather was warm and dry and indoor falls prevention type classes – in their space above a local takeaway – when the weather did not suit them to be outdoors. Most of the group were taxi drivers and worked in local takeaways and restaurants. They would not want to be in wet clothes and shoes for the rest of their long working day. The class was at a time that best suited their shifts.

“I am passionate about supporting certain ethnic communities who are more at a higher risk of many health conditions to become aware of their elevated risk, and motivate these communities to take part in more movement to help reduce the likelihood of these diseases, such as dementia.

“I work across different communities – particularly Caribbean and South Asian. The most satisfying part for me is seeing the impact that physical activity has. For example, one of the students on a Nordic Walking course I taught in 2022 had been street homeless and had Type 2 diabetes. Thanks to funding I secured with my co-Director, the course was free and this person could attend, with their Mental Health Support Worker if necessary. Prior to the course, we had several phone calls about what was involved. During the sessions, this student rarely spoke but did turn up each week (normally early). After the free course, I offered a free place at the weekly ongoing low cost classes but the student chose to pay, as a way of learning to budget for things that felt important to them. After a year, they went into remission for their type 2 diabetes and have started to talk more in the group which we all have noticed and really appreciated.”