Guernsey’s Health Improvement Commission is aiming to get more adults more active more often by appointing its first adult physical activity officer.
Megan Seward has joined the Commission’s Be Active team and has already planned pregnancy walking groups with the Maternity team at the Hospital which are soon to launch, made vital links with the Sports Commission and with Guernsey Mind around barriers to exercise and physical activity.
On her appointment, Megan said: “I’m an enthusiastic advocate of the benefits of physical activity and am pleased to be part of the Commission’s Be Active team, developing more opportunities for people to build physical activity into their daily life.”
Megan holds a number of qualifications to deliver safe and effective exercise and physical activity guidance to a wide range of people.
The Commission’s Be Active team has been working over the last five years to fulfil its mission of getting more people, more active, more often. Mainly focusing on supporting children and young people and on enabling and promoting active travel. Now, using funding from the States Active-8 Plan for Sport, Megan’s appointment to the Be Active team will expand its work to help more adults be more active. This will allow the Commission’s Be Active work to embrace a life-course approach, with support from pregnancy and early years to later life. Megan’s work will focus on embedding physical activity in healthcare, workplaces and community settings.
The Be Active Education Lead, Alun Williams, is delighted to welcome Megan: “Being physically active is one of the very best things we can do for our physical and mental health. Physical activity also has major economic and social benefits and plays a key role in achieving the States strategic aims of the Plan for Sport and for health improvement. Our work has already been enhanced by the appointment of an Active Travel Officer in 2020 who focusses on everyday walking and cycling, and we are delighted to expand our Be Active work again to support more adults to be more active more often.
“Megan is highly skilled in this area, with a proven track record in assisting people with activity levels in the island. We’re delighted to have Megan on board and are looking forward to the projects and programmes that she will develop in the coming months.”
Main picture credit: Paul Chambers.
