A JOGGING club for women in the city’s East End is celebrating after receiving a cash boost from The National Lottery Community Fund.

Jiggly Joggers were awarded £8,320 to continue their work in the area.

Founder Elaine Leith said: “Jiggly Joggers was born from my own anxiety of joining a running club based on a previous poor experience.

“I wanted to create something for people like me; a community group where a woman who wouldn’t necessarily join a running club had a place where they felt they could belong.

“We aim to reduce anxieties about outdoor exercise and provide a group to not only improve their physical health but their mental wellbeing too.

“This funding means we can now break down some of the barriers we may face and we will also be able to pay for Jog Leader training providing volunteering opportunities within the group.

“We will buy new safety equipment such as high vis vests which are vital in the dark evenings and further develop the group, hopefully growing so we can be able to reach other areas of the East End and set up more groups.

“Thanks so much to people who play The National Lottery who made this all possible.”

She added: “During Lockdown we had to suspend all group activity in line with Government advice. In the first instance I took to our social media closed group to keep in touch with the girls and try to keep everyone positive and motivated. I started up ‘Fun Fridays’ to try and help the girls stay in touch and for those who were living alone break up the isolation, so using Zoom we had bingo or quiz nights, that was a great success and we are still continuing this on a monthly basis.

“We are now able to run in groups of five so we have started group back up with only existing members, we have a strict booking system and staggered starts to keep everyone safe. We are hoping to get our beginner groups up and running the first week in September however it is all COVID dependant.”

Cranhill member Charmaine Arbuckle, 29, spoke of how much she enjoys being part of the group.

She said: “I joined Jiggly Joggers to support someone else, I had low expectation and no real commitment, little did I know how important the group would become to me. I felt the warmth and support of the other Jigglys soon after joining and was so glad to be part of Team Jiggly. My running has improved and I’m looking forward to becoming a Jog Leader and supporting new Jigglys on their running journey.”

The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Director, Neil Ritch said: “In these uncertain times our priority is to ensure that National Lottery money continues to flow to charities, voluntary sector organisations and grassroots groups.

“I would like to congratulate the Jiggly Joggers on their award, theirs is an important project which has found innovative ways to keep people connected as well as supporting them to continue with their exercise.”