Frank's story

I popped into a Carers Week 2019 event and asked if I could help and offered to volunteer my time as a fitness instructor. I’m a full time carer myself so I knew n-compass would also be able to help me care for my partner and I wanted to be able to support and connect with other carers too. I have always exercised from the age of 7 and it’s the subject I know most about, and I know how good it is for mental and physical health so decided I wanted to use my knowledge and skills.

I found the recruitment and training process very easy and felt comfortable doing it. I was about to start doing face to face classes with carers and then the Covid 19 pandemic started. After a short while n-compass contacted me about offering the classes online. I was slightly nervous at first, but I wanted to give it a go and have grown lots in confidence since starting them and feel I am a better person, it has lifted my self-esteem and helped me to understand my partner's needs too. I do it with the main hope that some people get enjoyment out of it and improve their lives and therefore help the person they care for too. The exercises are transferable too for all ages and abilities and I always show sitting down as well as standing exercises.

I then had the idea to develop the sessions into 'Frank's Walk a Mile Club' where we could all get together and walk a mile (or thereabouts!) in the comfort of our own homes. I throw lots of exercises into it for those who want to do it and we have music playing too. We have a few regulars on there and you can catch up with it on Facebook (videos have had more than 250 views!)

I was so pleased when I could start to offer face to face classes too! During Carers Week 2022 I ran an outdoor session for adult carers and I have started attending a young carers group doing 20-30 minutes of fun exercise with them. By building my confidence with n-compass, I also now run groups in my local community and attendance is booming!