19th November 2025
Across the UK, volunteers of all ages provide support in multiple ways across myriad sectors, giving up their time to assist a wide varity of community and charitable organisations. Indeed think tank PBE reports that volunteers provided 688 million hours of unpaid work in 2024, or the equivalent of £15.5bn in economic terms.
The fitness sphere is no different, for example thousands of volunteers attend parkrun events every week and many people support each other informally at gyms and other clubs.
A recent Metro article highlighted the way female runners come together to keep each other safe after dark during winter and autumn, when many would otherwise drastically change their routines, or may not even run at all.
Similarly, an Irish Times article from last month shone a light on the importance of women supporting one another during their midlife decades as they complete strength training workouts. This prevents injury and pain and boosts their mental wellbeing and confidence.
The BBC recently reported on a call-out for volunteers to become coaches for park exercise sessions in Surrey and Sussex, under a scheme run by community organisation Our Parks which aims to build on the London 2012 legacy.
Those who come forward become qualified to teach circuits classes in outdoor gyms in their community, for guided cardio and strength training workouts.
Strength training is something which can drop off during the years when women in particular are most busy with their families and careers. But it is critical in retaining or improving muscular fitness.
From as early as your thirties, our bodies begin to lose muscle mass and during perimenopause, as hormone levels drop, women can lose even more muscle mass.
Building moderate weightlifting and resistance exercises into your daily exercise routine helps to mitigate muscle loss.
There are other benefits too - for instance, some research launched via Harvard Women’s Health Watch earlier this year revealed that older women who undertook guided exercises twice a week (including Tai Chi and circuit training) lessened their risk of having a fall.
A great place for working out together and doing some strength and resistance training (as well as cardio) is your local outdoor gym, and the benefits of working out in the fresh air brings even more advantages. Join a workout session or class, exercise with friends or set up a group yourself if you can’t find one near you.
Fresh Air Fitness is a leading, award-winning pioneer of outdoor gyms UK-wide and has been in business since 2007. We offer many different communities the opportunity to start moving and keep moving while building fitness, strength and flexibility. Plus we appeal to users of all ages, backgrounds and fitness levels.
We’re with clients from initial site visit through to design and installation. Equally, our pieces are user-friendly and completed to the highest safety standards, as well as being competitively priced.
To date, we have installed 4,500 outdoor gyms, helping to build healthier and, ultimately, happier communities. We’ve installed pieces in schools, parks, recreation grounds and residential settings alongside more unusual locations including prisons and motorway service stations. All are free at the point of use.
Browse our range of strength equipment such as our chin-up bars and resistance machines like our bench press and leg press. Meanwhile, our iconic Big Rig offers multiple options for a number of users at once, encouraging a sense of community.
If you think your local area could benefit from an outdoor gym, get in touch. Alternatively call and speak to a member of the expert team on 01483 608 860.
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