How Come Outside Is Encouraging Exercise in Leeds
Come Outside, a new outdoor community in Leeds, is much more than a running club
Robert is a mindset consultant and an avid runner and always wanted to organise a running group of his own. Jovanni did too. He’s an award-winning musician, public speaker and outdoor enthusiast who used to play football for Bradford, Leeds and Rotherham at a reserves level. ‘When it came to creating Come Outside it just felt like a natural progression of all the things I’d been doing,’ he says.
Come Outside offer a weekly 5km run and 2.5km walk every Saturday at 8.45am at Oakwood Clock to encourage people from all walks of life to come together as a community to reap the benefits of the outdoors in an effort to improve their mental health and give them the opportunity to meet new friends. ‘It’s also to offer access to activities that some people from a similar area to myself and Rob (Harehills, Seacroft, Gipton and surrounding areas) don’t always have the access to,’ Jovanni adds. ‘Come Outside is a central hub to bring people together through a love of the outdoors and to give people the opportunity to exercise within a community.’
The mission is to build an inclusive community that brings human’s together, regardless of age or ability, through enjoying the benefits of the outdoors, and Come Outside promise to provide a place to meet new people, have fun, improve your fitness, and be in a safe and supportive environment.
Come Outside was set up initially because of Robert and Jovanni’s combined passion for exercise. ‘If you’re passionate about something, it’s natural and not forced,’ Robert explains. ‘Nothing we’re doing has been contrived and it’s not something we sat down and made a business plan for. We just love running and exercise, and we love being outdoors, and we want other people to benefit from that because we know what the benefits are. For me personally, I’ve been injured for a few months and not being able to exercise has had an effect on my mental health. I did a lot of sport when I was younger and I boxed for 18 years but in lockdown I started running again and that made a massive difference, as I think it did for a lot of people, when we were cooped up in the house all day. What we’ve done is an extension of that, encouraging people to continue to come outside. It’s important to understand that we’re not a run club. We’re an outdoor community. We’re passionate about that, and about other people seeing the benefits of that – especially underrepresented people who might’ve never felt comfortable having a go at it.’
Since launching earlier this year, Come Outside has grown and now the community keep in touch on socials and WhatsApp. ‘We host a weekly run and walk and we’ve also been on two hikes,’ Jovanni says. ‘Running, walking and hiking is the main focus for Come Outside but to progress from those activities we’ve also started offering a yoga class where we’re collaborating with a yoga instructor to offer our members a session where they can focus on their breathing and mobility which ties in with their healthy and active lifestyle. We’ll also be hosting a Christmas social for our members in December to bring people together in a different space. We have so many other plans including a Come Outside sports day filled with fun activities. There are so many ideas we’re going to implement once the running, walking and hiking is established.’
Come Outside members have been loving the opportunities offered so far, and Jovanni is keen to share some feedback: ‘One of our members posted a photo of the group and said, “proudest to be part of this community. Inclusive, warm, supportive and encouraging. Focus is purely on being outside and together developing a positive mindset for the week ahead and nurturing a feeling of friendship and community. I’m so grateful for Come Outside for the opportunity to meet new people and enjoy exercise in a way I’ve never really done before”. Just in that one piece of feedback alone, I think she’s labelled it all. That’s so rewarding and that’s what we do it for.’
Robert hopes to continue encouraging more members of the community to get involved. ‘There are loads of run clubs up and running now and I think next year we’re going to see an explosion of run clubs but ours is a little bit different,’ he says. ‘We are an outdoor community and it’s really about the community, not how fast you can run. We don’t talk about times. We just get together and enjoy each other’s company. People have even been networking. It’s bringing people of all walks of life together. It’s such a great buzz when you’re there with everyone and seeing them communicate when they might never had a chance to meet elsewhere. Sometimes we just look at each other and say “this is what it was all about”. We’re super proud of it but we really want to spread out and offer more and we’re actively looking for funding to be able to do that.’
Follow @comeoutsideco on Instagram to join the community and to keep up to date.
