Browse Sections

• Education
• Special reports

Sign up for Beryl’s health mission

16/ 5/2008

A CRUSADING grandmother-of-four is on a mission to get sports fans as healthy as their heroes.

Beryl Parsons, 73, regularly attends match days at Eastlands Sports City stadium - not as a supporter, but as a volunteer with a city-wide initiative to get more Mancunians exercising and eating healthily.

"If you look at the size of a lot of people I think it's self-explanatory," she says.

"The cost to the health service is huge. What we are doing is getting children to start exercising from an early age and getting adults to take better care of themselves. It's early days, but the response has been great."

The campaign, called Getting Manchester Moving (GMM), has seen over 1,000 City fans sign up to live a healthier lifestyle since the launch in January 2007. The response has been so good that 200 GMM participants successfully completed last-year's Great Manchester Run.

As part of GMM's match day activities, Beryl hands out fruit smoothies instead of the traditional pies and lager in a bid to get people eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Beryl hopes that by taking part in Get Manchester Moving, she provides a good example to the older generation.

"You are on your feet all day and you very rarely get to sit down. You have to be dedicated to it, and you wouldn't be able to it if you weren't in good health," she says.

Beryl has thrown herself into activities since her husband Ronald died a few years ago aged 69. A former special needs teacher, she first started volunteering as a marshal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002.

She is now a member of the Manchester Event Volunteers group, set up to continue the good work started during the Games. The group provide volunteers for events from the Futuresonic arts festival to VIP meet and greets at Manchester Airport.

Jane Parker, co-ordinator of GMM, said: "Beryls absolutely fantastic, she been with the campaign throughout and has taken part in virtually every activity we put on.

"She's particularly key on match day events, everybody knows who she is."

Beryl also finds time to swim once a week, attend regular aerobics classes, and is a keen member of her local amateur dramatics class. Her work isn't all selfless altruism - she does get free tickets to see Man City as a reward.

However, she says, the true reward is the people she meets and the fun she has.

"You don't want to be stuck in the house on your own with no-one to talk to. I have made some really good friends and I just enjoy doing it," she explains.

"By keeping healthy, you keep your brain healthy. If you don't use it, you lose it."