WITH a population now largely staying at home and in many cases self-isolating, a new challenge has been presented to communities and community workers across the country.

As covered in last week’s column, some food banks and food unions have now become emergency food-delivery services as people are not as able to get out to food banks safely.

City of Liverpool FC’s Purple Pantry volunteers delivered food parcels across Liverpool last week and will continue to do so each week while funds and stocks last.

Elsewhere, the club is using their online presence to connect with the community and keep spirits high.

Club videographer Jason Morland runs the club’s YouTube channel, Purps TV, and has been using social media to share videos of goals and key matches in the club’s history, dedicated to “all the Purple key workers and self-isolators.”

It helps retain the club’s connection with the community, even when there are no games of football being played and no opportunities to meet up in person, and gives hope that moments like those shared will make a return.

Another important part of this online presence has been the organisation of an online workout for the City of Liverpool FC community.

These classes have been set up by the club and streamed live on Purps TV. They are being led by health-and-wellbeing coach Juanita Steel, whose SteelFitcamp focuses on inclusivity and accessibility, putting together workouts for all ages and abilities.

“I’ve watched the football club grow from the very beginning,” says Steel. 

“When Paul [Manning, club chairman] contacted me mentioning that he wanted to do some activity for the Purps community while in isolation, we suggested a low-intensity workout suitable for most.

“The aim is to help keep the community active and engaged, and to reduce any impact on their physical and mental well-being at this time.”

The first workout took place last week and was streamed live via Purps TV. It was repeated over the weekend for those who missed out the first time, or for those who had recovered in time to do another session!

The various exercises can be done to different levels of intensity, and demonstrations are given from lowest to highest during each exercise.

This meant more people could join in and participants are also able to leave comments during the workout.

“Since the club has a wide variety of followers the workouts have to suit everybody regardless of age, ability, size and fitness level,” adds Steel. 

“I demonstrate exercises that are high intensity and then a lower intensity variation. This is for the whole Purps community.

“This resonates with me massively as my Liverpool based business SteelFitcamp is all about community. Ability doesn’t matter and we will gladly welcome anyone to join us.”

In normal circumstances, SteelFitcamp classes are female-only, with the ages of participants ranging from 16 to 72.

Mums who have problems arranging childcare are encouraged to bring children to the sessions and they can then join in the workout if they are able to.

“Being able to deliver the camps as we do enables us to reach women, especially those with mental-health issues, and also those who would probably think twice about attending an exercise class because of expense and childcare,” says Steel.

“Due to the recent shutdown of the centres where I hold my Fitcamps, I have had to move online.

“This has been a huge success as we are now reaching women in Australia, and in Devon, the Isle of Wight and other places around the country.

“All workouts are live so that our community feel like we are teaching them face to face. 

“If we don’t look after the health and well-being of our community we will have no community.”

Like many social and community initiatives, SteelFitcamp has found ways to keep going in some form online through the lockdown. 

This has been especially useful for children who now find themselves cooped up at home for much of the day and need to expend some energy.

A new SteelKiddie Camp has been launched on YouTube which encourages children to stay active while off school with live workouts at 8.30am every weekday. 

City of Liverpool FC’s own initiative hopes to extend the reach of these sessions to others in the community who may have previously been unaware of such activities.

This will include those who took part in the club’s social football activities at weekends who are now missing that weekly exercise.

From parents and their children, to older members of the community and everyone in between, staying active is important for both physical and mental health during this time, and getting social on social media is one of the best ways to join in.

To keep up to date with the latest activities, follow @CityofLpoolFC on Twitter, and subscribe to Purps TV, and Juanita Steel — SteelFit Camps on YouTube.

Juanita also has a Facebook group aimed at helping women keep fit during pregnancy, which can be found by searching for BeFit4Baby on Facebook.