Little Fitness

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  Little Fitness Logo

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  Little Fitness Class

Inspiration

I‌ ‌had‌ ‌come‌ ‌across‌ ‌two‌ ‌brothers‌ ‌who‌ ‌were‌ ‌homeless‌ ‌living‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌family‌ ‌hub,‌ ‌who‌ ‌ happened‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌participating‌ ‌in‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌Little‌ ‌Fitness‌ ‌classes‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌private‌ ‌sector.‌ ‌ It‌ ‌actually‌ ‌shocked‌ ‌me‌ ‌how‌ ‌vulnerable‌ ‌they‌ ‌were‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌group,‌ ‌confidence‌ ‌was‌ ‌ low,they‌ ‌were‌ ‌upset‌ ‌because‌ ‌they‌ ‌felt‌ ‌they‌ ‌couldn't‌ ‌do‌ ‌anything,‌ ‌emotionally‌ ‌ upset,‌ ‌frustrated‌ ‌at‌ ‌not‌ ‌knowing‌ ‌what‌ ‌was‌ ‌being‌ ‌asked‌ ‌of‌ ‌them.‌ ‌This‌ ‌got‌ ‌me‌ ‌ thinking?‌ ‌Are‌ ‌there‌ ‌more‌ ‌children‌ ‌living‌ ‌in‌ ‌these‌ ‌family‌ ‌hubs‌ ‌and‌ ‌emergency‌ ‌ accommodations‌ ‌without‌ ‌access‌ ‌to‌ ‌physical‌ ‌activity‌ ‌programmes?‌ ‌ ‌ This‌ ‌led‌ ‌me‌ ‌to‌ ‌connect‌ ‌with‌ ‌Crosscare‌ ‌family‌ ‌Hub‌ ‌in‌ ‌Dublin‌ ‌and‌ ‌led‌ ‌me‌ ‌on‌ ‌this‌ ‌ journey‌ ‌of‌ ‌equality,‌ ‌integration,‌ ‌inclusion‌ ‌for‌ ‌these‌ ‌families‌ ‌experiencing‌ ‌ homelessness‌ ‌and‌ ‌for‌ ‌no‌ ‌child‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌left‌ ‌behind.‌ ‌ Following‌ ‌a‌ ‌successful‌ ‌pilot‌ ‌in‌ ‌partnership‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌Crosscare‌ ‌Family‌ ‌Hub,‌ ‌ Drumcondra‌ ‌in‌ ‌Oct‌ ‌2019‌ ‌-‌ ‌Jan‌ ‌2020,‌‌ ‌‌I‌ ‌decided‌ ‌to‌ ‌set‌ ‌up‌ ‌a‌ ‌Social‌ ‌Enterprise‌ ‌to‌ ‌ develop‌ ‌the‌ ‌idea‌ ‌of‌ ‌Little‌ ‌Fitness‌ ‌further.‌ ‌The‌ ‌goal‌ ‌is‌ ‌to‌ ‌extend‌ ‌the‌ ‌capacity‌ ‌of‌ ‌ Little‌ ‌Fitness‌ ‌from‌ ‌Dublin‌ ‌centric‌ ‌to‌ ‌a‌ ‌regional‌ ‌then‌ ‌national‌ ‌reach‌ ‌over‌ ‌the‌ ‌ coming‌ ‌2-5‌ ‌years.‌## What it does

How we built it

Little Fitness runs a programme that teaches a new activity (skipping, hopping, balancing), introduces children to a particular muscle and uses child friendly exercises and equipment to develop these muscles. These exercises and learning of the body’s muscles develop throughout the programme and become part of the children’s activities to celebrate various events throughout the year. The children get to follow a journey map which gives them visual information on what activity is being done. The journey map links with each child's sticker book which they receive at the start of the programme. At the end of each class the child gets to practice the new activity and muscle of the day and receives a sticker which links the journey map to their sticker book. The action of collecting their stickers at the end of class gives the child the feeling of achievement, a sense of belonging and ownership. The book is theirs and they don't have to share with siblings.

Challenges we ran into

Covid 19 has brought about challenges for everyone all over the world! Stay at home, don’t meet friends & families, stay 2 meters apart! How do we keep going? We did this because we had to look after ourselves, make sure our children's health and well being was a priority, get up for work and head to the kitchen table, keeping the day to day home life “Normal” as possible. What if you couldn't do that, something as simple as heading to the kitchen table to start work? Or look after your children because you can barely get out of bed yourself. This is what people experiencing family homelessness go through day to day. So along with Covid19 brought further restrictions for these families experiencing homelessness, isolation, loneliness, no self worth, no support from family or friends.Homeschooling was not an option as no tech was available and the interest to support children was low. These are very difficult times for children in general but especially those in emergency accommodation. I am determined to be ready to launch as soon as restrictions lift enough to allow me to start working with these children again. Now more than ever we need to work together across different services helping vulnerable children to build resilience, self esteem and self worth. Little Fitness has a huge role to play in that process as well as being social, fun and healthy!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Little Fitness is proud to have been able to run the pilot programme, which allowed us to understand more about the need to support the families from homelessness into the community through participation in physical activity programmes. The connections we have made in different services has only shown us that there is a need for these families and children to be supported but also the staff are impacted from Little Fitness working in these services too.

What we learned

The number of homeless families has increased by 232% since july 2014, almost one third of people in emergency accommodation are children. As of April 2021, there are currently 925 families accessing emergency accommodation, this includes 2,193 children. It is important to note that “hidden homelessness”, women and children staying in domestic refuges, and people sleeping rough are not included in these homeless emergency accommodation counts. Even before Covid there was a noticeable need for the Little Fitness programme, however living through homelessness and Covid, now more than ever we need to work together across different services helping vulnerable children to build resilience, self esteem and self worth. The major issue is families needing a place to call home but as a result of the emergency accommodation model, a new more long lasting and unseen issue has been created - the severe deterioration in mental health. The mental health and well being of children living in government funded emergency accommodation around Ireland is massively under-resourced, and adding further challenges to the lives of those already living in some of the toughest and most marginalised realities in the country.

What's next for Little Fitness

Little Fitness is moving forward and needs the support of partnership/sponsorship to allow it to meet the needs of all the families experiencing homelessness in Dublin & Ireland.

Built With

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