People living in the Lichfield area can get more physically active as part of a pilot of the national Let’s Get Moving programme.

Commissioned by the Department of Health, Natural England, the Physical Activity Network for the West Midlands and Sport England, the pilot is aimed at inactive adults aged 16 to 74 living in the Lichfield area.

The programme run by South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust aims to help people to become more active and is part of the local Lifestyle Service which helps people to feel healthier by improving their lifestyles.

People can get one-to-one advice and guidance from an adviser who will motivate and support them. They will discuss the benefits increased physical activity can bring, work through barriers facing individuals, set goals to work towards and advise people about services and opportunities in the local area. In addition, three GP surgeries are taking part in the pilot by offering patients a physical activity questionnaire to complete while waiting for appointments.

Individuals are then being given the opportunity to be contacted by an adviser from the team to book an appointment.

Retired Janis Allso, from Lichfield, is delighted with the benefits she has experienced as a result of contacting the Lifestyle Service.

Since her retirement, she has enjoyed an active social life and says that the amount of “girlie lunches” has increased, resulting in eating and drinking more often. After receiving some information about the Lifestyle Service from her GP and having thought about making some lifestyle changes to improve her general well being, Janis decided to give it a try.

She said: “The confidential one-to-one sessions made me more self aware of not only what I ate and drank but also the lack of exercise in my life and the changes I needed to make.”

She has lost a little weight by making small changes to her lifestyle but more importantly feels much fitter and healthier due to an increase in exercise. The Lifestyle Service is free and confidential and can be contacted by calling 01827 306190 or visiting a GP and asking for a referral to a lifestyle advisor.

The Let’s get Moving pilot will be evaluated by the University of Gloucestershire and will influence the roll out of similar projects in the future in rural areas.