ENCOURAGING children and young people to be fit and active can be difficult at the best of times.

But for Warren Gordon, helping youngsters engage in exercise is a vital part of aiding them to recover from serious illness.

And so the technical instructor, based at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, is constantly coming up with new ways to help young patients back on their feet.

He's become famous for his street dance routines that see children bopping in the hospital... and long after they return home.

Warren is part of the physiotherapy team working with patients with respiratory conditions and was a sports coach and keen dancer before he took on the role with the NHS.

He said: "I was used to being in a sports hall with 20, 30, 40 kids so moving to one-to-one sessions in a hospital setting was a complete change in environment.

"A hard part of the job is to motivate the kids to exercise, a big issue is kids' activity levels.

"Some of them are easy to motivate and already into sports but some are not interested at all so you have to find ways of getting them up and moving about.

"That's how the dancing came about. I had a seven-year-old girl who had started dance classes and I told her I used to be in a street dance group when I was 19.

"We came up with dance moves together then thought we would video it and post it up on a Twitter page... and it went crazy.

"I've kept dancing with my patients since then."

The video of Warren dancing with Caitlyn Shorts, who is now eight, was viewed more than 165,000 times.

Caitlyn, from Paisley, lives with a life long condition called bronchiectasis, which makes the lungs more vulnerable to infection.

The talented schoolgirl is a pupil at Floor4orce Dance Academy, where she does ballet, lyrical, street, pom and dance trix, and was delighted when Warren offered her dancing as part of her hospital stay.

Caitlyn's mum Jayne said: "It was more than 18 months ago and she still talks about it and how she wants to go back and see Warren.

"It was such a good way to help her be active and to keep her engaged while she was in hospital - a two week stay is a long time."

Caitlyn, who says she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up, added: "The dancing really helped me and it was fun to work with Warren. I loved it."

Warren had no formal dance training but was approached one night in a nightclub by a dance teacher who spotted his potential.

The 35-year-old joined a street dance group and found a passion for dance.

He said: "I love hearing about my patients practicing back in their rooms to get the moves right - that's what you want, them taking the initiative to stay active.

"I was told one of my patients went home and was dancing with her granny until midnight, which was lovely."

Warren works with a full age range of patients from when they are old enough to be able to walk onwards.

He says the job at the children's hospital is "perfect" because it combines his knowledge and experience of sports with working with children.

But, while the role is enjoyable, it has its tough side.

Warren said: "It can have it's really amazing times.

"But the flip side is you work with kids that are not well so that took me a while to get used to, but I got a lot of support from the team to get used to the medical environment.

"Seeing kids leave the hospital is easily the best part of the job. I have worked with kids in the ICU who are just out of surgery so you go from kids who are lying in bed not able to move anything to seeing them walking out of the hospital.

"It's a magical part of my job."

During the coronavirus pandemic, Warren has had to find a way to work with young people - but from a distance.

Initially he was fully kitted out in PPE and continuing his exercise routines but with six classes a day it soon became impossible to carry on.

He said: "I was wearing gloves, gown, mask and a visor. It was like being in an oven so I had to try to find ways around it."

One of the workarounds was carrying out sessions over video call - but that also has its challenges.

Warren added: "On video call it's hard to see the patient and their technique, if they're doing it properly.

"They can also side step the camera if they're not wanting to do it properly."

For one activity, Warren did a scavenger hunt with a group of eight patients, sending them off to find household items.

Once they returned with the item, they had to do exercises.

One young wag, during a round of frog jumps, dropped to the floor and disappeared.

Warren and his colleagues have also been recording exercise videos to be shared on a YouTube channel for young patients.

Even without the added Covid-19 pressures, it can be difficult to motive children and young people.

He said: "The hardest types to work with are the unmotivated ones who haven't found an interest.

"This is the screen generation who are parked in front of an iPad or XBox.

"You have to find something they want to do so it's not a chore, whether that's football, dancing hill climbing."

Working with children every day means that Warren builds a firm rapport with patients and their families so, while the aim is to get them home, it can be hard to say goodbye.

He added: "Sometimes you get used to having a patient at a specific time of day and you miss seeing them - but that's the point from the very beginning, to have them leave. And you celebrate it.

"You almost become part of the family because you're speaking to mum and dad every day, even though you're keeping that professional line you have a human side and so, when you are part of their daily routine and part of their recovery, you do almost become part of the family.

"There are young people who will live long in my memory, it is very hard to forget some of them."