Be Active - Be in Business

Staying healthy to stay in business was the order of the day with Cornwall Enterprising Women (CEW) and business start-up organisation Outset Cornwall at the first Be Active Truro on August 17, 2011.

The 5-day festival, organised by Cornwall Sports Partnership, Totally Truro Business Improvement District, Truro City Council and Event Cornwall, aimed to promote a variety of activities to help people become more physically mobile.

CEW's enterprise coordinator Josie Purcell said: “Be Active Truro was a great way for us to promote the importance of staying fit to stay in business and despite the rain people really enjoyed our exercise displays.”

Members of CEW Gemma Ford of Love Yoga Cornwall and Beth Greenaway of Merlin Fitness performed a number of simple exercises on Lemon Quay to help people ‘health-proof’ their working lives.

Ms Greenaway, who demonstrated squats and lunges and exercises using balls and resistance bands, said: “A study in 2010 by the American Cancer Society showed that otherwise healthy women who spent more than 6 hours a day sitting were 40% more likely to die sooner than women who sat for less than 3 hours. “That has to be reason alone to make sure you keep active, after all in business it doesn’t matter how successful you are if you are not alive to enjoy it.”

Former Outset Cornwall client Gemma Ford showed people how easy it could be to enhance working life with her popular 20-minute seated yoga session.

She said: “More and more businesses are coming to the understanding that investing in the health and well being of staff sees both a financial and social gain. “There has been much research into the financial savings and increased productivity due to investment in health as health equals wealth.”

CEW is run in association with Outset Cornwall, which is funded by the ERDF Convergence programme that invests in activities that will have a long-term impact on the growth and develop of the Cornish economy.

If you want help and advice to start your own business visit www.outsetcornwall.co.uk or join www.cornwall.enterprising-women.org if you are a female business owner in the county and would like to join a supportive and inspiring network.