The Council’s Sport & Leisure service is encouraging everyone to start their New Year with a fun 28-day physical activity challenge.
‘Jump Start January’ was conceived in 2023 by a working group aiming to support people to become more active, borne out of the Active Shetland Strategy. The group, including staff from Shetland Islands Council, NHS Shetland, Ability Shetland, sportscotland, ZetTrans and Shetland Recreational Trust, wanted to offer an easy free challenge to encourage locals of all ages and abilities to get active in the New Year.
Individuals, groups, households and businesses are all invited to be active for at least 15 minutes a day for 28 days starting on Friday 3rd January and ending on Thursday 30th January.
People can do whatever physical activity they like – whether they choose to go out for a walk or jog, swim in their local pool, take part in a local fitness class or sport activity, or do some exercise from the comfort of their own living room.
There will be weekly prize draws for anyone submitting information on how they were active every day each week, as well as a bigger prize draw at the end of the challenge for participants who were active on all 28 days. One exciting prize is a return trip from Shetland to Aberdeen for four people including a cabin courtesy of Northlink Ferries.
One participant in the 2024 challenge said “I was sorely needing to do something and this wasn’t too onerous. My plan is to keep going and do at least 20 minutes a day in February.”
Louise Jamieson, of the Council’s Sport & Leisure Service, said “New Year is a great time to think about improving health and lifestyle. We hope that a record number of people join in the fun and help to improve their physical and mental health in 2025. We are very grateful to Northlink Ferries for their generous donation and support of the challenge.”
More information about the challenge as well as a range of helpful links about healthy lifestyles can be found at www.shetland.gov.uk/jumpstartjanuary