CEO for Disability Sport Wales shares her GOGA memories
Fiona Reid, CEO for Disability Sport Wales, joined May King Tsang for the latest in our Get Out Get Active celebration videos. She looked back at her involvement in the UK-wide programme that has reached an extraordinary 160,000 people since 2016.
Watch Fiona share her memories of GOGA with May King below:
Disability Sport Wales have been involved with GOGA since the very beginning. They have helped to make sure organisations across Wales understood the GOGA approach.
In just over two weeks, on Thursday 19 October, Activity Alliance and partners will celebrate all things Get Out Get Active (GOGA). We are bringing people together from across the UK to recognise the importance of their work. The event will give everyone present an opportunity to reflect on the impact of GOGA. We will celebrate how the programme has changed the lives of those involved. How the GOGA approach brings people together. And the people of GOGA, who continue to embed the GOGA way into their lives.
In the latest video of the series, Fiona shares some of her favourite memories from the past seven years working alongside GOGA providers in Wales. She also goes into some of the aspects that she and her team have learned, such as the surprising amount of activity participants did whilst doing sand art in Pembrokeshire:
“What we found within the GOGA programming is that actually, it’s that activity by stealth.
“It’s having fun, enjoying it, going out and doing stuff that connects you with, the world, or with friends, or with other people who become your friends, without actually knowing that you’re doing something which is even better for you.
“It’s improving your physical health, your mental health. It gives me goosebumps to think about it and talk about it.”
The incredible work done across the UK has seen a remarkable 31,000 individual participants, and 3,500 volunteers involved since 2016. Every session has been based on a simple approach, creating a place where disabled and non-disabled people can come together to be active. GOGA has influenced and encouraged organisations to do things differently when it comes to physical activity.
You can watch Adam Blaze, CEO of Activity Alliance, share his thoughts. Or, hear from a participant, Rosy Bevis, on the fun and friendships she has found at her GOGA sessions.
About Get Out Get Active
Get Out Get Active (GOGA) is a programme that supports disabled and non-disabled people to enjoy being active together. Activity Alliance is the creator and lead partner. The programme is funded by Spirit of 2012, Sport England and London Marathon Foundation.