It has become a life-changing hobby for many, as the fight to get fit has been embraced by people across the nation.

The cost of an unhealthy lifestyle has been well-documented, causing a host of medical conditions as well as costing billions of pounds to the national economy and the NHS.

But in North Yorkshire, communities are being given the opportunity to embrace a host of different ways to embrace a more active lifestyle to improve both their physical and mental wellbeing.

We offer tailored support to get active, eat well, lose weight and stop smoking to enhance the health of the county’s 615,400 residents and ensure that the gap for life expectancy between the most affluent and poorest areas of North Yorkshire is addressed.

Health and wellbeing are essential parts of everyday life. As the closest port of call for many residents in the county, North Yorkshire Council is playing a huge role in ensuring local communities embrace healthier living.

The North Yorkshire Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy to 2030, developed alongside the NHS and patients’ group Healthwatch North Yorkshire, aims to ensure every resident has a fair chance of living a fulfilling, happy and healthy life.

Whilst the strategy has a focus on reducing health inequalities, the actions over the next seven years should have a positive impact on health and wellbeing for all North Yorkshire residents.

In addition to the strategy, a new sport and active wellbeing service will be launched in September when Selby and Tadcaster’s leisure centres become the first to move under the banner of the newly formed Active North Yorkshire.

The move is the first stage of our plan to bring all its leisure services in-house. The Active North Yorkshire service will be focussed on supporting everyone in the community to be active, with an increased focus on improving the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the county’s communities.

Currently the leisure centres are managed by five different operators in the former district council areas. Under Active North Yorkshire they will become active wellbeing hubs.

Customers at Selby and Tadcaster leisure centres will be the first to become part of Active North Yorkshire from 1 September when the move from current operator, Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles, takes place.

Among those who have benefited from the classes on offer at North Yorkshire’s leisure centres is mother-of-two Helen Farndale.

She has lost more than seven stone and dropped five dress sizes after embracing exercise classes at her local leisure centre.

Helen, a housing manager from Northallerton, attributes much of her transformation to the Aquafit sessions at Bedale Leisure Centre.

The sessions, conducted in the shallow end of the pool, do not require class members to be able to swim. The water supports balance, making workouts, which are done to music, more manageable.

The 41-year-old, who at her heaviest weighed more than 20 stones, began her weight loss journey last year after noticing that everyday tasks were becoming increasingly difficult.

Helen, who now weighs less than 13-and-a-half stones, attends sessions at the centre around four times a week. She said they have helped her get her confidence back.

“My family and friends are so proud of me. I have more energy, feel and look better, and can now shop in normal stores. Plus, I have made £1,000 selling my old clothes online,” she added.

See more details about fitness classes and programmes available at our leisure centres.

Meanwhile, if people in the county are ready to lose weight, adopt healthier eating habits and be more active, but don’t know where to start, North Yorkshire Council’s adult weight management programme is a free course, which runs for up to 12 weeks and aims to improve participants’ physical and mental health by helping them to eat well and undertake more exercise.

Three North Yorkshire residents have shared their experiences of the benefits of the programme which has transformed their lives.

Leanne Evans and Christopher Coupland, who live in Selby, as well as Grassington resident George Bellas, successfully completed our Adult Weight Management Programme delivered at Selby Leisure Centre and Craven Leisure, Skipton, and other areas across North Yorkshire.

Leanne, 59, said she joined the “Move it Lose It” programme in Selby after she hit a weight that was impacting on all parts of her life.

She said: “I started with swimming, then added yoga to help with my flexibility and later the gym. I can truly say I feel fitter and more mobile now than I have in 15 years. I also feel a sense of euphoria knowing that I am five stones lighter. I couldn’t have imagined this at this time last year.”

Similarly, completing the programme has given Christopher a new lease of life. Before joining the Move it Lose it programme in Selby, Christopher could not walk more than 500 metres without pain in his hips and knee and he weighed 28-and-a-half stones. He has since lost seven stones in weight and has completed 27 park walks.

Meanwhile, father-of-three George joined the programme as he knew he needed to lose weight to lower his soaring blood pressure. He had also been diagnosed prediabetic.

Since completing the Healthy Lifestyles programme at Craven Leisure in Skipton, he said he has not only lost more than two stones, but he now exercises at least twice a week at the leisure centre and his diet has changed considerably for the better.

“The weight loss has resulted in less pressure on my joints when moving,” the 46-year-old said. “I can swim faster now which helps, but most of all I feel more confident and more comfortable in my own skin. Also, my blood pressure is a lower now.”

Run in most leisure centres across North Yorkshire, participants receive a personalised weight loss plan and friendly, highly skilled weight management advisors help them at every step through online, telephone and face-to-face support.

See more details and how to join our healthy weight programme.

Several other new programmes run with local partners have been launched to support residents to eat well, improve their health and fitness and make small changes to improve their quality of life.

Executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Michael Harrison, said: “Local councils are indispensable to the solutions around keeping people in good health. We’re a council that cares and wants to empower people and communities to live healthy, happy lives.”

However, health and wellbeing isn’t just for adults, though. Exercise, physical activity and creating healthy habits and having a well-balanced diet of nutritious foods is equally essential for children.

With this in mind, 80 pupils from schools across North Yorkshire recently gathered at a celebratory event to mark the success of a Healthy Schools award scheme.

More than 270 of the county’s schools signed up to take part in our Healthy Schools Award Programme. Since its launch three years ago,106 of those schools have now gained awards in the scheme.

Participating schools work towards bronze, silver or gold Healthy School status by meeting a criteria across four themes: active lives; food in schools; emotional health and wellbeing; and personal, social and health education.

They take actions such as improving school dinners, setting up staff and pupil wellbeing champions, and increasing ways for pupils to be active throughout the school day.

School meals are a great way for children to improve their eating habits, learn about the social side of eating with their friends and to be aware of issues around food waste.

Tasked with providing safe, nutritious and tasty food is North Yorkshire Council’s award-winning development chef, Kath Breckon.

Kath, whose pioneering recipes have improved meals for thousands of pupils across North Yorkshire, recently triumphed in the Public Sector Chef Award category at the glittering Craft Guild of Chefs Awards 2024 held on Monday evening at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London.

The Craft Guild of Chef Awards are seen as the chefs’ Oscars recognising the “exceptional talent” across the whole of the industry.

Kath has been working hard teaching schoolchildren in North Yorkshire how to turn surplus food into delicious dishes.

Thanks to Kath, pupils at Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School in Harrogate, signed up to the “Eat Them to Defeat Them” campaign, which is a multi-award-winning initiative combining the power of advertising with a school’s programme to encourage children to increase their volume and variety of vegetables consumed.

The young people also learned how reducing food waste can help to cut harmful greenhouse emissions and enjoyed the sessions.