Since we started the one question above all others has been What is the Move For Wellness?

Officially the Move For Wellness started on February 1 2021 right in the middle of a global lockdown.

The reason we launched it was simple we in the UK were in the middle of winter, often far too cold or wet to go for a walk so it meant most people were binge watching on Box Sets and eating junk food and getting MISERABLE. However, it is a proven fact that to feel good about life you need to raise your endorphins and there are 4 ways generally to do this: 1) Exercise including dance 2) Laughter, how do you feel when you hear someone else laugh or watch a comedy, 3) Cuddle a pet or 4) Intimate pleasure. Now for obvious reasons we could only address one of these four EXERCISE.

During lockdowns there were many amazing P.T’s (personal trainers) sharing exercise programmes which encouraged people to be active in their own homes, for many the thought of doing a 20-30 minute exercise class was TERRIFYING.

These are people who would love to get fit but often they are suffering from a debilitating illness or stuck in one room apartment or feeling blue and the last thing they wanted to do was follow a fitness programme, in fact most P.T’s will tell you the number of people taking part would drop considerably, so we decided to do something about it and came up with the daily Move For Wellness exercise session. Each session lasts for 2.21 minutes, so anyone watching can chose how many times they want to do it.

We hoped that we would appeal to a cross section of people able bodied and not so able bodied. We were delighted when we were joined by the amazing Nancie from Texas who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which following an accident has meant Nancie is mostly in a wheelchair. However, Nancie has been attending rehab and started to see our daily Twitter posts and now adapts every single exercise so that a disabled person can take part. Or how about Ngufan a single mother from Nigeria, who is a teacher who after starting to take part remembered that she loved dancing, and every day she puts on some music and just dances. Ngufan has told me that she now has found that she actually now enjoys her life and because she is happy her 5 year old son is also happy and they often just laugh.

We are so proud that among the over 100,000 people taking part we have such an amazing cross section of society.

However, as you will be aware the exercise programme is just one part of what the Move For Wellness is about, it is also about raising a small amount of money £365,000

So what have we achieved? We are so proud that among the over 100,000 people taking part we have such an amazing cross section of society, during 2021 we have raised £10,000 so a little bit closer to the £365,000.00 are looking to raise. We have decided to split the money into two. The first half will be to support Talking Cafes which do a brilliant job, but seriously underfunded. We intend to support Cafes that support one of the following causes Mental Health/PTSD, Bereavement, LGBT+, Menopause & Drug rehabilitation.

However, as you will be aware the exercise programme is just one part of what the Move For Wellness is about, it is also about raising a small amount of money £365,000 and these are some of this years events I'm taking part in:

May 2 - Vitality 10k

May 28 Maverick 10 mile Dorset

June 5 - Regents Park 10k (2nd time can I beat this years’ time 74 minutes)

July 16 - QE Stadium 10K (2nd time again can I beat last years’ time 75 minutes)

The second half will be used to open up "Oasis of calm" in city centres. These will be available to anyone who is seeing "red" feeling "blue" or even "black". There you will find a sensory room where you will be able to spend as much time as you need for your emotions to return to normal. Only thing is you will not be allowed to use any electronic communication so that means no phone, laptop or tablet for the duration of your stay at the "Oasis"

Therefore I hope you will feel generous and want to continue to support my efforts & so how about these interesting ideas such as the number of steps, feet, yards or miles you want me to do. If this appeals to you then it’s 50p per step or £1.00 for each foot or £5.00 per yard, or £10.00 a mile. Or you can just make a donation that you feel comfortable with for the entire 3,488 miles. All money raised will be used to support the projects we have chosen

However, I would also like to encourage everyone to take part regardless of age or ability as any movement outside your day to day movement is a step in the right direction. It can be slowly built up from 2021 seconds to 2021 minutes. As many now understand the Move For Wellness is not limited to the UK you can join in anywhere. So why not walk or skip or jog around your neighbourhood, town, city or county.