The Liverpool Seniors Well-being and Social Group started back on Tuesday 30th January at Lurnea Community Hub with our regular Gentle Exercise class, an active and engaging physical activity session led by an Exercise Physiologist from our partner organisation Healthstin. The Liverpool Seniors Program runs thrice weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during school term. We have now reached over 90 registered participants in 2024. In 2023 we reached a total of 1222 attendances over 73 sessions.

In an important event that marked a pivotal step towards transforming Western Sydney's physical landscape, Collective Leisure convened the WSYD Moving Symposium on 16th November 2023.

Held at the state-of-the-art Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub (BEST), this Symposium was the first official event at the impressive $100 million facility, championing a cause crucial to the region - the reduction of physical inactivity and inequalities.

The Pasifika community (e.g. Tongan, Samoan, Cook Islanders, Fijian, Maori, Tokelauan, Niuean) residing in Western Sydney face significant health challenges and are at increased risk of conditions like heart disease, renal failure, gout and diabetes. Lifestyle-related behaviours including sedentary behaviour, physical inactivity and nutrition are a significant contributor to these health disparities and access to culturally appropriate and low-cost physical activity programs is limited. Community members need to be thoroughly consulted on what their needs, preferences and barriers are to be more active. 

It’s clear there are health inequalities in society which I have talked about previously, but one key statistic that still stands out for me is that one in two Australians have a lifestyle chronic disease.