Oldham resident Keith Barker gets his 30 in for ‘That Counts’

Keith Barker from Littlemore in Oldham stars in 'That Counts' - new campaign aiming to inspire thousands of people from across Oldham and Greater Manchester to lead a more active life.

Latest figures show more than 79,700 adults (aged 16+) and 26,200 children (aged 5-16) in Oldham are not moving enough1.

The Greater Manchester-wide That Counts! campaign has been created in response, by giving people a clear activity target and encouraging them to look beyond formal sport or exercise.

Iit will help them find their own ways of fitting more activity into their daily lives.

It shows that moving for just 30 minutes a day can be fun, social and bring lots of benefits, like feeling happier, more confident and sleeping well, as well as helping towards long-term health.

Keith is featured as one of the campaign’s everyday heroes. He said, “I’ve been pretty active all through my life, but when I retired, I felt like I needed to make sure I was moving a bit more each day whilst also giving something back. 

“I love gardening. What people don’t realise is that it can be quite physical, from pulling weeds, to digging, to moving things around the garden. You can work up a bit of a sweat sometimes! Gardening is a great activity. 

“You can do as much or as little as your body can take and work up to doing more over time. The good thing about this gardening group is that we all help and support each other – the more physically able helping those who aren’t. Over time this helps us all to do a bit more.
 
“I’m so glad to be picked to be part of this campaign and hope my story helps other people add a little more movement into their day.

A lot of people think moving more means the gym or lycra, but gardening couldn’t be further from the truth. And it’s not just toil here, we sit down, have a brew and make friends – which is brilliant for your mental health too.”
 
Posters will be up on Waterloo Street and Goldwick Street until 25th October. 

Led by the Greater Manchester Moving (GM Moving) team, That Counts! is part of an ambitious plan to find solutions to the long-term barriers to physical activity.

Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, Councillor Zahid Chauhan, said, “The ‘That Counts!’ campaign is great because it aims to show the residents of Oldham that everyday movements can count towards your 30 minutes daily activity goal.

“Exercising doesn’t need to be about spending countless hours in the gym on the running machine or the weights. It can be as simple as getting off a bus stop earlier, doing a spot of gardening like Keith or walking somewhere with the family.

“In Oldham we promote a range of physical activities that the whole family can enjoy including our Get Oldham Active offer and our ‘Let’s Go for a Walk’ initiative. 

“We still have a long way to go but we strive to improve health and wellbeing across the borough with help from partners and the community. 

“This campaign is vital in helping us achieve our goal and to educate residents more about difference between physical activity and exercise.” 

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