Exercise schedule for young cancer survivors wins national award

AN exercise programme for young people living with cancer and young cancer survivors has won a national fitness award after being recognised for its vital work.

The MOVE Forward Programme by Young Lives vs Cancer, the UK’s leading charity for children and young people with cancer, won the Community Engagement of the Year Award at the Health and Fitness Awards Northern Ireland.

At an awards ceremony, young cancer survivors supported by the programme received the award.

MOVE Forward is a CrossFit based exercise programme for young adults and their families living life after cancer treatment in Northern Ireland. Through the success and demand for age-appropriate exercise schemes in Northern Ireland, MOVE Forward has continued to grow, reaching more people in new locations.

The MOVE Forward programme was developed by Simon Darby MBE, a Young Lives vs Cancer Social Work Team Leader.

Simon said: “Exercise during and after cancer treatment can help reduce many treatment related side effects such as fatigue, chemo brain and improve emotional wellbeing. MOVE Forward was designed to reintroduce young people to exercise after treatment in a way that was evidence based in its approach but built upon the voice and experience of young people who have been through cancer.

“We use CrossFit because it is functional movements that are constantly varied and performed at high intensity. It’s ideal as it allows coaches to adapt or scale movements and workout to suit each individual young person meaning we can have someone in a wheelchair or someone who is blind still performing the same workout but with adaptations specific to them.

“The highlight for me is seeing teenagers, young people, parents and siblings coming into the gym, giving it their all, cheering each other along and then leaving with a sense of accomplishment, chatting to each other about how they performed and hearing all the encouragement.

“Through the support of the Community Foundation Northern Ireland this year we were able to expand our MOVE Forward locations to; CrossFit Derry, Gladiator Training in Ballymena, CrossFit Enable in Dundonald and CrossFit Tamnamore which will be coming later this year.

“Each of these new locations has allowed us the opportunity to run a programme in a local CrossFit gym with the support of their amazing coaching team, bringing exercise to those locally in their areas.”

One father and son who have been helped by the programme are Kevin and Austin from Rubane, after Austin, 15, was diagnosed with leukaemia aged 11. Dad Kevin said going through cancer was devastating for both Austin and their family. After his treatment, Austin was referred to the MOVE Forward programme.

“Austin had been quite badly affected by both his cancer and subsequent treatment, spending a number of weeks on a ventilator.

“This left him with quite significant strength, co-ordination, mobility and fitness problems that still plagued him years after his remission. He was inactive, unhappy and found even gentle exercise to be something to be avoided and that caused him upset. He was constantly comparing himself to what he used to be.

“Getting involved in MOVE Forward was a way of having exercise in a safe and secure environment where more people were like him. This was huge.

“Initially, Austin was not interested at all, having become so demoralised with his own physical condition that he just did not want to bother. After the very first lesson, he was hooked and has stuck at it ever since, attending even when tired and stressed. It was such an amazing and unforeseen change in attitude and outlook and he has continued to love it.”

Soon after Austin joined the programme, Kevin got more involved too.

Kevin said: “This has become a family-like group that Austin is confident in and loves attending. He has been able to see that he is not alone and that others have taken the same journey as him.

“My personal participation has been really enjoyable in many of the same ways. Chatting to the other parents and watching the children making such amazing progress is quite humbling. My own fitness has improved as I strive to make sure that I do my son proud.

“I got to spend time with Austin that I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. It has meant so much to myself and Austin. It has brought us closer together, it has made us both push ourselves harder than we would and took us out of our comfort zones. It has definitely helped with mental and physical health and helped us see what was happening to us was not unique, even though you wish it was, but that it did not have to be all doom and gloom.

“I just wanted to say that Simon, Christine and all of the other coaches are just amazing. They are fun, demanding, supportive and passionate and have made a huge difference to both myself and Austin over the last 12 to 18 months.

“The support that we have had from the group and the friends we have made have been amazing and unexpected. It really has been life changing for us both. Austin was in a bad place physically prior to starting Move Forward and he is literally unrecognisable today due to the hard work and effort the team and Austin have put in.

Simon said: “It’s such an honour for Young Lives vs Cancer to have won the recognition for our MOVE Forward programme. It not only represents the time, energy and passion put in by our volunteer coaches but to each teenager, young person and parent that shows up each week, that gives their all and trusts in us to get them fitter and healthier.”

To find out more about the MOVE Forward programme and work of Young Lives vs Cancer, click here.