Community fitness event seeks funding to expand

A man who founded a community-based fitness event said it had been so successful that he is bidding for funds to extend it.

Tim Howe, from Swindon in Wiltshire, started The Longevity Games (TLG) in 2024. It runs four times a year and includes functional exercises for improving everyday mobility.

The latest games take place on Sunday at Swindon Harriers, with hundreds of participants expected to take part in the free event.

"We've applied for our first bit of funding, and we're looking to go into socially deprived areas and put on community training groups run by PTs, which are free of charge," Howe said.

The 52-year-old has started promoting the benefits of the games amongst healthcare providers.

"I'm working with GPs, health professionals, social prescribers and pillars of the community, explaining what we're doing and the impact it's having in the long-term," he said.

"So the next stage is to put training groups throughout Swindon that are fully funded and gradually roll them out throughout the town."

Junab Ali, 52, from Swindon, has done six of the games and said it had helped reverse his type 2 diabetes.

"I said to Tim, 'can you guarantee me that I'll get healthier and fitter doing these exercises?' and he said, '100 per cent', so I said, 'all right then, I'll sign up'," he said.

"I didn't know that just those simple exercises make a hell of a difference on your bones and muscles to keep you stronger."

Becky Dean, 35, also from Swindon, had two slipped discs about four years ago and relied on her young son, Dylan, to help her with everyday tasks.

After joining TLG last year, she now finds activities such as getting out of the car and climbing stairs much easier.

"It's been very beneficial for myself; I am a lot healthier, a lot happier mentally as well," she said.

"I've met about 20 people through the games because I can get out and do something and talk to them."

Anna Woodman, a Wiltshire GP and chair of Swindon Educational Trust, will be taking part in her fifth games later, alongside other healthcare professionals.

"We hope to inspire and motivate our patients to join us," she said.

"We believe that rather than firefighting in the NHS, which is often our day job, we can take a positive, preventative, proactive approach to get our local community moving.

"I think this is something that could be rolled out nationally or even internationally for people to recognise the power that [the games] have in terms of reversing chronic disease, and also in enabling us to live longer."

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