Our Story
In the Spring of 2019, a corporate bootcamp running on the Wanstead Flats was unceremoniously shutdown. A group of us had been attending and training together for years and didn't want the journey to end. There were limited options locally and none of us could face joining a gym. We loved exercising outside together. For the first couple of months we just kept turning up together at the usual session times and different members of the group would lead a workout, whilst we decided what our next steps would be.
As luck would have it, two of our members (Andy and Dave) had done their Personal Training qualifications and stepped up to lead regular sessions. Much to our delight, the vastly-experienced and dependable Wayne, from the recently-folded bootcamp, was keen to support us in setting up our grass-roots, not-for-profit fitness group. A couple of other members took on the unpaid roles of Treasurer and Secretary to formalise things and hold regular members-meetings to review our progress. Our core aims have been to keep the sessions low-cost and accessible. Our fees are regularly reviewed and we have been able to reduce costs with increased membership. WFF is now run by a dedicated bunch of volunteers. We pay our PTs a fair price and set our membership rates so that we can cover our costs.
We started small with about 8 regular members and 3 sessions a week. We now have over 20 regulars and have increased to four sessions a week. We've survived numerous COVID lockdowns thanks to our creative PTs moving sessions onto Zoom. This kept us sane and kept our fitness goals ticking over. We are back outdoors on the Flats now and enjoying seeing WFF grow from strength to strength. There will be regular fitness tests (opt in) and team challenges on the horizon. We hold socials including pub nights, brunch and Sunday Roasts. Come along for you free taster!