I’m Amy Melton and I am a Community Connector for Active Essex. I have always enjoyed being active and the positive effect it has on my wellbeing. I heard about this role and knew I could use this as an opportunity to inspire others to get active so they could feel the benefits too. In my role as a United In Kind coach, I have had the chance to connect people together to help reduce feelings of social isolation. It’s rewarding being able to do this as a Community Connector with the bonus of getting people active at the same time!  

For me Find Your Active is about encouraging our communities to engage in getting active in whatever way works for them. We all have different interests and hobbies so an activity may work for some but not others. Find Your Active is a way I can work with individuals and groups to ascertain what they enjoy doing and plan how we can get them started or resume their journey of becoming active.

My goal is to get as many people as possible across my district engaged in being active and, most importantly, for these people to enjoy it. There is no question that being active provides many benefits to your physical and mental health so I hope that my work will see communities living happier and healthier lifestyles.

Physical activity has always been a positive influence in my life. From a young age I regularly attended sessions of gymnastics and trampoline club each week. My love for sport and exercise continued through school and into adult life. When I had my children, exercise took a backseat for a few years and I found new ways to stay active. I learnt that taking part in physical activity didn’t have to mean training with a club or exercising at regular times. I kept active by walking with pushchairs and running around soft play centres. I have been able to fit exercising into my weekly routine and love being active with my family on woodland walks and family bike rides.

My biggest passion has always been football and I played for several teams throughout my teenage years and early adult life. I have recently returned to playing again after a break of several years. As much as I enjoy how the exercise makes me feel physically, more than anything I really love the social aspect of it and my Wednesday night training sessions and games on a Sunday have now become the highlight of my week.

We look forward to seeing Amy’s involvement within her community and how she can help support those around her into getting active.