A new Bude group has been organised in the hopes of creating a fun and safe space for overweight men to make friends and lose weight together.

‘Man vs Fat’ might sound more like an intense training regime rather than a friendly group looking to get into shape but the Bude-based group are hoping to make a difference to local men’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Joshua Walton is the operations manager at Rosie’s Kitchen in Bude, and as a big football fan, loves a kick about. However, being a bigger guy, Josh hasn’t always had a positive experience when trying to get fit through football. So, he has decided to take things into his own hands, creating Man vs Fat.

“Being overweight myself and loving football and other things I’ve attended several local footie nights but there’s always younger lads there who are just too fit and fast and it takes all the fun out of it. I decided to take things into my own hands and create a community group hoping to make a difference to local men’s physical and mental wellbeing in Bude,” explained Josh. “When you’re overweight, a lot of people would just say “oh just join a gym” or “just go running” but they don’t realise that some people who are overweight have real confidence issues and the gym is a really unwelcoming, uncomfortable place most of the time. Sometimes we all need a little push and that’s what this group is about.”

While still in its very early stages, the group has already amassed some 50 members and Josh has big hopes for it.

He said: “My aim is to build a solid foundation for overweight men, unfit men, men in recovery, or with bad mental health to come and enjoy exercise and participate in activities suitable for them and not feel pressured, out of place or just plain useless within the activities. I wish to create a community of like minded, like bodied chaps to inspire one another to lose weight and have a good time whilst doing so, whilst feeling confident and not out of place.”

The group, hopes to organise activities such as free swims, walks and hikes as well as football .

“Events such as weekly football, hikes, swim challenges and much more will be organised by me in my spare time and there for all to participate and hopefully raise some money to fund our group and give to men’s mental health charities. I hope we can create a great little group and meet new friends and have a great laugh whilst doing so,” explained Josh .

“Anyone is welcome who is overweight, unfit, lacking confidence, or recovering from injuries. We won’t accept people who are too physically fit as there are already groups out there for them and it would contradict the purpose of the group, but if physically fit people would like to help, referee games, give support, advice then we would love that.

“Anyone can come and feel confident no matter how big or old, we hope to create a wholesome environment for everyone. This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this so I’m sure there will be some hurdles along the way, but I will learn and embrace the group and hopefully make a difference to a lot of people’s lives.”

More information about the group and upcoming events, can be found on the Facebook page, ‘Man vs Fat’.