Rachna has been regularly taking gym sessions under our Live It programme over the last couple of years.

This programme supports children and families to lead healthier and happier lifestyles. We aim to improve confidence, self-esteem and makes sure everyone’s enjoying themselves along the way.

 Now aged 15, Rachna has seen a huge improvement in her physical health, something which was troubling her ever since the Covid pandemic; ‘’I wanted to get my health and fitness back up, especially after covid. I had a big downgrade in my fitness, so a programme like this has helped me get that back up’’.

Outside of the Live It programme, Rachna also has her PE lessons at school, but for her there is no comparison. Rachna said ‘’There’s more effort you can put into here, compared to school. You can push yourself more than a standard PE lesson’’.

Staff ensure that over 12’s have a personal training plan, carefully developed for young people to work safely on their own goals. Rachna’s attitude and commitment to sessions shows just how much she appreciates the work put into this; ‘’The knowledge Ben [Lead Physical Activity and Health Officer] has with what exercises benefit me personally is brilliant. School is very structured and do the same thing in one term. But here at the Trust, you can increase the levels and progress from each session.

That’s exactly why Rachna would recommend anyone to join the programme. Rachna went on to say ‘’it’s a great chance to develop your own personal skills and what areas you can improve. I now know what I’m good at and not to so good at. I’m great on the treadmill but struggle with the weights, which I wouldn’t know outside of the programme’’.

Our programme emphasises supporting families and that’s the case for Rachna. Her mum also gets involved in the sessions, and you can often find them both working together and supporting each other on the gym machines.

This is a positive difference for Rachna, knowing she has the full support of DCCT staff and her own family. ‘’My mum gets involved, which makes me feel more at ease. There’s a lot of other people at school, whereas this focuses just on me and mum… it just feels more personal and tailored. There’s more for us to talk about at home too, we can help and compare each other, go through what things we did and what machines we went on’’.

That’s how Rachna’s mum knows there’s an improvement in her daughter… seeing it for herself in each session; ‘’She can talk about what she gets up to in this programme in her coursework it’s just helped her feel better and lose weight. It’s helped with her school lessons. In her PE lessons she’s more active and fitter''.

Live It