DURING the pandemic, where groups are not allowed to meet physically, these Slimming World members are utilizing technology to join virtual sessions with class leader Dawn Attwood to guide their slimming journey during the coronavirus lockdown.

University student Megan Gilmore has recently moved from Millom to York and has thrived from the support offered from the group, she said: “Adapting back to group was hard, especially when moving city, to get back into the routine of everything and get back onto the plan but it was so much easier than I thought it would be.

“Now that I’m back into work, I find it so much easier to plan everything around work and focus on things more. It does feel like a little family and I know that I can always have a chat with them on a Monday at 3.30 if I’m struggling with anything.

“During lockdown, I actually took up running. I’m an avid gym goer so felt like I lost my right arm at the beginning (of lockdown) but I just compromised! So I didn’t find it harder on that front. However, in regards to food, sitting in all day really tested me on the urge to snack. I found it really hard but I just changed my eating habits to little and often and that got me through the day. I went home so my family had totally different eating habits to me so it was hard to adapt but we met in the middle and compromised and it worked really well.”

Amelia Janes, a Barrovian who recently moved to Millom, says she misses the community feel of physically being in a group, but the virtual sessions offer a lifeline during a strange time.

She said: “I had always wanted to lose weight, and I think moving here was all new.

"I knew a lass here and she already went to Slimming World so I went with her.

“I take the kids on lots of walks, we used our hour of exercise everyday and we have a trampoline out of the back, and we go on bike rides.”

Amelia is kept on her toes by her two young boys, aged nine and five, who she has recently walked up Black Combe with - something she says she would not have been able to do before joining Slimming World.