From a life changing injury to SO14 Active
Before joining Saints Foundation, Lina was low on confidence and unable to find work due to injuries sustained in a life changing accident, but has ended the year joining the SO14 Active casual team.
The women’s fun fit session has been one of the fastest growing groups of 2024, and two regulars at the heart of that growth are Mother and Daughter duo Mimi and Lina.
Mimi was the first of the two to join, and said: “I heard of Saints Foundation a few years ago in the Chinese Association of Southampton, and it was someone I knew from there that accompanied me to my first session.
“I found it really helpful as effective exercise that felt accessible to me at my age and ability. On my own I’m not motivated, but with the group I feel like being part of a team like I did as a teenager.”
Mimi’s enthusiasm in advocacy for SO14 Active would bring a lot more people she knew through the door, including her daughter Lina.
After a serious accident in 2004, Lina’s life was turned on its head. She was always a very active person, and with this injury she was unable to keep up the same levels.
Lina explained: “I had an accident in 2004, which I was discharged for in 2007, but in 2017 I had a pain in my ankle, and they found it had broken again. Every time I would do an activity, or even wear boots, it would just blister, and got to the point where it almost got amputated because of infection.”
With this, it wasn’t only staying active that was an issue, but also getting out of the house and finding a job. It was SO14 Active that was able to offer solutions to both for Lina: “I couldn’t do a lot of high impact activity, but at Saints Foundation they accommodate for everyone, whether it is people who are older or have some kind of disability. They adapt their activities for all abilities .”
Again, it was Mimi’s questions that uncovered the volunteering potential: “When I first saw young people in the Foundation team coming along, and I asked if my daughter could join and they said yes, she can join as a volunteer to see how she got on.
“When I first told Lina, I think she thought I was just saying it to try trick her out the house, she didn’t think she had a chance!”
Lina said: “I decided to take it on and I have been volunteering for 11 months now. A lot of people I’ve come across since, they are a little fearful with some exercise because they think they could get more hurt. I know I can reassure that that they can do it, but it may take some time because I have been there and have had to be patient with myself.”
Lina just completed her Level 1 ‘Introduction to Football’ course as part of the Southampton FC and Starling Bank’s free the Coaches of Tomorrow programme, which aims to support more women and girls into grassroots football coaching.
This allows her to progress from a volunteer to a casual role with Saints Foundation, meaning she is now able to be paid for her work and expand the sessions she coaches with SO14 Active and potentially beyond.
Mimi explained with pride: “Before the accident she was very active, but since then she hasn’t been and has felt unable to express herself. Many times she came to me feeling useless, but she found herself again with Saints Foundation.”
