How a poster changed my life

When Anita saw a poster for Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin’s Women’s Walking Football team, little did she know the impact it would have on her.

‘No exaggeration. It was a poster in a window that transformed my life for the better, opening up wonderful new friendships for me, and allowing me to learn new skills and gain new knowledge.’

‘Just a short while after responding to this poster, I found myself, for the first time in my life, playing walking football. It was such fun! After that first session, I had a huge smile on my face. I hadn’t laughed so much since I was 12 years of age!’

‘On one of my walks to the market in Shrewsbury, I passed the offices of Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin and noticed in the window was a poster advertising a newly formed women’s walking football group that was looking for players.’

‘I didn’t go into the office but took a photo on my phone and carried on shopping. When I got back home from shopping, I emailed the contact details given on the poster, a lady called Kate who was organising the team.’

Making new friends

‘I knew that if I wanted to make new friends in the town I had to think differently, as it can be more challenging to engage with people when you no longer have children at home and no work colleagues. The walking football was an opportunity to get out and about, keep active and hopefully have some much-needed fun.’

Anita and her husband had moved quite suddenly from the north of England to Shrewsbury to stay temporarily (or so they thought) to help look after Anita’s mum who had been diagnosed with terminal stage four cancer.

‘We had no friends or family in town, my husband was, at that time, busy working from home whilst I journeyed on a daily basis down the A5 to support mum. Despite the shock of mum’s diagnosis and the chaos of moving so quickly, we both found that within months Shrewsbury felt like home, and finding this walking football team was the icing on the cake.’

Anita continues: ‘It’s funny, after first getting in touch about maybe joining the walking football team, I felt nervous and yet excited. I needn’t have worried as when I arrived and found Kate, I immediately felt that I had found my tribe. I can’t explain just how much fun it was!’

‘We are a team of over 55s who have come to befriend and support each other, I now truly feel through my newly formed friendships that I have found my forever hometown.’

Learning new skills

‘As I have been having so much fun, I started looking on the Football Association’s website and came across some free online learning that I could apply for, so I did! I now have my Health and Safety, Safeguarding, First Aid and more recently the Introduction to Coaching Football course, and I intend to apply for the Level 2 Coaching Football.’

‘I have used the knowledge from the courses to help build my confidence in setting up the warmup and cool down sessions, to help us avoid injuries. Also, I set out the pitch with cones and I’m able to demonstrate skills that I have picked up from books and online learning tools.’

‘I have so much fun learning skills and developing along with my new friends and teammates. We play in wind, rain and snow as we understand the importance of our time together, and we all say it’s the best day of the week.’

If you’d like to find out more about Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin’s walking football teams, call 01743 233 123 or email enquiries@ageukstw.org.uk