Sujan's anxiety was holding her back. She was trapped in a vicious cycle which was keeping her from having the confidence to access the exercise and activity which could benefit her mental health.
“I was very nervous at first because I suffer from panic attacks and anxiety attacks, so the idea of going to a new group was a bit scary."
The Get Set to Go programme was set up to help people in exactly Sujan's situation. Launched by the mental health charity Mind in 2015, with support from us and the National Lottery, more than 3,500 people with mental health problems have been supported by this landmark two-year programme.
At eight local Mind branches throughout the country, group and one-to-one peer support sessions helped participants build an understanding of how mental health problems might act as a barrier to their physical activity. Alongside this support there was the chance to try a range of activities including gym, football, badminton, boxing, walking, boccia and even ultimate frisbee.
Coping better
An independent evaluation of the results of Get Set to Go, carried out by Loughborough University and the University of Nottingham, found that people taking part had increased their activity levels by an average of 1.3 days each week.