With lockdown restrictions continuing to ease, we felt it was a good time to provide another update on our plans to reopen Fitmums & Friends clubs.

We have created a COVID-19 task group, with representatives from all our clubs, which is actively working behind the scenes to prepare for clubs reopening when the time is right. Currently, we are working with each club to establish how it might reopen and what will work best for their volunteers, members and community. We are considering leader capacity, venue availability, safe routes, distance options, and how we might need to revise our support systems. We also want to take into account member opinion, so clubs will be in touch shortly with a short survey to ask you how members are feeling about returning to club, what support might be needed, what distances are required, etc. We ask that members please do respond, as the more input we have, the better we can plan to meet members' needs.

We are already aware that some members are keen to get back to club, and that others are more anxious about this. We want to make it clear that, while we are keen to restart activity as soon as safely possible, there will be no pressure for a club to reopen if it is not ready, nor any pressure on volunteers or members to attend if they don’t feel ready. There will however be plenty of support.

When clubs do reopen, we want everyone to feel welcome, to continue our support to members, and to create that ‘Fitmums feeling’ again. It is clear though that we will have to accept some differences to the way we do things in order to keep everyone safe – our members, volunteers and local communities.

In the meantime, we urge everyone to stay active. Our extensive range of virtual sessions for members via Zoom and Facebook Live continues via our Fitmums & Friends Virtual Sessions Facebook group. It now includes a new Return to Running/Walking session which is aimed at those of us who might need a little support to get back to the 1 & 2-mile groups when we can restart clubs. It is an achievable, fun session aimed at rebuilding confidence as much as fitness. If members are back out socially-distanced running with others, please remember to follow all guidance and to be considerate of anyone you meet. Thank you.