UCLan’s Biggest Loser
Nearly 30 students have completed a weight loss project ran by UCLan Students’ Union through the Give it a Go programme.
The initiative kicked off on the 18th January, with participants enjoying boot camps, a team building trip climbing Pendle Hill, a variety of exercise classes and weekly weigh ins to support them in achieving their goals of losing weight, toning up and meeting like-minded people. The students lost over 11 stone of weight in total between them throughout the duration of the 8 week project.
The project proved to be a massive success, with the eventual winner, Georgie Sweeney, losing 12% of her body weight – Henna Bootwala came second, losing 11% body weight, and Lucy Hill finished third losing 9% body weight. Lucy said “Participating in the project has given me such a boost to get fit through the constant support from everyone who took part”.
Andrew Goodfellow was the contestant who lost most weight overall, losing almost 22 pounds over the 8 week period. The top 3 contestants were each awarded a personal training session for their efforts courtesy of the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, who also formed a big part of the project, hosting the boots camps and exercise sessions. Anne Randi Lalid, another of the participants, described it as “a great experience which led me to meet some fantastic people".
The initiative was organised by Lyndsey Spiers, student activities coordinator for the Students’ Union, who believed the project would provide the contestants with a major boost in their endeavours to achieve a healthier lifestyle balance. Lyndsey applied for funding from the Tackling Health Inequalities NHS health grant, and was subsequently awarded £800 to fund the project.
Lyndsey said “By taking part in more activity, students can expect not just to notice the difference physically, but also through feeling more energetic and generally happier in themselves, with weight loss often being associated with boosting confidence. UCLan’s Biggest Losers aimed to provide students with a platform to make a positive change to their lives at UCLan, and to share tips and knowledge with like-minded people that the students can take forward with them – the project lasted 8 weeks, but the ultimate aim was to make a positive impact on the whole future of these students, and the feedback from students suggests this has been achieved, with a society now in the process of being set up to continue the project, and close friendships having formed during the project".
The pilot was such a success that the Students’ Union is now looking at regularly running this sort of project and supporting as many students as possible in achieving a healthier lifestyle.
The Biggest Loser team.
