Vince’s story: ‘The hardest bit is getting started’

Vince lives in Bedminster in Bristol and has strong links to Knowle West and Hengrove where he grew up. Despite health issues, he’s used the support available in South Bristol to help maintain both his mental and physical wellbeing.

I’ve done some kind of exercise for most of my life, from when I was a kid. When different sports were on the telly, Wimbledon, the cricket, the World Cup, I used to have a go. Not to any standard of professionalism!

I don’t work at the moment, but I like to keep busy and fill my time productively, otherwise you can get into a syndrome of isolating yourself. It can escalate into ‘I don’t feel confident about going out’.

It’s just a question of getting the mind-set going and the routine really. Once I start something I continue it unless it’s something I really don’t wanna do. You just suddenly find yourself turning up weekly.

At the moment every week I do badminton, box fit and a walking group. I started doing the badminton and box fit through Bristol Active Life Project. I do the box fit at Empire Fighting Chance in Easton. That’s helped to keep my fitness up over the years, and they do a lot of work in the community, from mental health to helping young people.

With the walking group, it’s not just about going out walking. It’s about the social aspects of it as well, the wellbeing and feeling connected and meeting up with a group of people. You meet up with them regularly and you’ve got things in common. You can talk about what’s going on for you.

I used to do the walking group twice a week, but because of juggling commitments I had to stop doing the Tuesday walk. It was getting to the point where I was over-committing myself.

I’ve always kept busy though. I’ve had health issues but I’ve overcome them by keeping myself occupied, exercising, doing sport and learning about history and nature, which keeps me well. I’ve been ill on and off for over 30 years, but I’ve always got back to doing the things I normally do in the end.

Sometimes when I’m turning up for something, I’ll be a little bit apprehensive and I’ll think ‘Oh no, I’m not up for it today’. But that’s probably the best day to go because once you’ve done it you get rewarded with feeling so much better. Even though I might feel apprehensive in the beginning the wellbeing factor at the end far outweighs that negativity.

It’s so easy to give up, and that’s what happens to people. They start making excuses for themselves. ‘I ain’t going to go this week’ or ‘I ain’t got time’. I think you should be able to find time for 30 minutes a day doing exercise, even if you do it in three 10-minute sessions where you walk round the block. You don’t have to have a fancy gym membership. You can do it right where you live. And some of the other activities are really cheap. The badminton’s £2.50 a session.

Where I live, people say there aren’t good facilities, but there are lots of things if you wanna engage. The hardest bit is getting started. Part of my walking duties is to bring people in and talk to them and make them feel at ease and befriend them. Because I know what it’s like to walk into a room full of strangers. It can be quite daunting.

I found out about stuff going on in my area just by looking on notice boards and listening to my GP. She was looking out for my welfare and encouraging me to do voluntary work so I wasn’t isolated at home.

I realise a lot of people couldn’t do all the different things I do because they’ve got busy lives, working and stuff like that. So I can’t be seen to be preaching ‘This is how you’ve got to do it’.
But some men, especially as they get older, they can get in a rut and the worst thing you can do is get stuck in front of that TV in your armchair, just vegetating.

I’ve never been the man stuck in the armchair, but I got involved in the Man Alive Group recently. This is organised by Knowle West Health Park and Bristol Active Life Project, both organisations that have inspired me and helped me over the years. With Man Alive, we go out on trips and activities, there’s a grant that pays for some of the expenses. It’s for men around the area, to stop loneliness.

I’ve also trained to be a community health champion, with my mum. So I know about the 5 Ways to Wellbeing and other public health stuff, and try to coax people I know, to help them. I’ve kind of got it mapped out now, the kind of lifestyle that I like to lead and carry on in old age. So it’s not a five minute fix, it’s for life.

Watch Vince’s film

This story is an extract from the NIHR Open Research paper How Do You Move? Everyday stories of physical activity.