The Volunteer Centres in Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds have joined forces with Anglia Community Leisure and AbbeyCroft Leisure to launch a new scheme called The Welcome Project and they are looking for volunteers.

The Welcome Project aims to encourage more older people to get back into exercise by breaking down their psychological barriers about using local leisure centres.

Gill Robinson, manager of Suffolk Volunteering Federation, said: "As people get older, and especially if they have not exercised for a while, using a leisure centre can feel a bit daunting. Often people think you need to be young and trendy or have a supermodel body to fit in.

"The Welcome Project wants to change that by setting up volunteers at leisure centres who will introduce older people to a health and fitness lifestyle in a welcoming, friendly and comfortable atmosphere. They will be there to show people how the leisure centres work and the different fitness activities that are available, but the emphasis will be on swimming as the best all-rounder."

Tony Bass, chief executive of Anglia Community Leisure, said: "We want our leisure centres to be here for everyone of all ages, all abilities and all shapes and sizes. We have a friendly team of staff to make customers feel welcome once they are here but we do understand that some people find it daunting even to step through the door. This is how the new volunteer scheme will help."

Warren Smyth, chief executive of Abbeycroft Leisure in Bury St Edmunds, says: "The Welcome Project will make people feel like they are meeting a friend rather than turning up on their own and that can be a real confidence boost. We hope that once they get in the water their fears will float away and coming to the centre will become something to look forward to rather than to dread. They may even end up becoming volunteers themselves."