Humans of Grassroots Sport | Charmaine Browne

Read time 4 minutes 

Our third Playfinder Humans of Grassroots Sport series entry is an interview with Camden Health Kick Activities Project Coordinator. Charmaine Browne.

Camden Health Kick Activities launched last March in conjunction with the council to promote affordable, healthy living in the local community.

In partnership with Kentish Town City Farm and Castle Haven we run a selection of activities ranging from free fitness classes, football, badminton and cooking.

The leading organisation leading the project are Queens Crescent Community Association and all activities are hosted at the Dome.

There has been a terrific response and we now have over 500 people signed up. It’s a multicultural environment where we have a mix of ethnicities including Afro-Caribbeans, Bangladeshis, White British, Irish and Middle Eastern.

Sport has helped bring the Camden community together. In some cases people have lived in the area for 20 years and not had any contact until a game of badminton or football.

One of our members, a Bangladeshi gentleman, loves the men’s only football sessions as it’s a chance to run about and it’s free.

I spoke to him about the benefits and he loves knowing the same group will be there each week to catch-up with.  He stressed regular physical activities is a major boost for psychological and mental well-being too.

We’ve found separating men and women helps us work with various religions. Some women also prefer to exercise with other women and there are healthy group sizes of around 20 per session.

Diversity is the biggest element of Camden Health Kick Activities and that’s reflected across sports, the cooking classes and gardening events.

Intergenerational activities are a key driving force in our project. Being able to offer family sessions is a particular passion of ours and the results have been fantastic in encouraging children to get active. Later this year we shall be launching Zumba classes and we’re always open to suggestions!

What to find out more?

Please feel free to get in touch if you wish to find out more about our classes and join in.