Fitness fundraiser for Bury flood victims

Fitness instructors from I Will If You Will (IWIYW) – the Bury-based female fitness movement delivered by Bury Council with National Lottery funding from Sport England – have organised a fitness fundraiser for local flood victims.

It takes place at Castle Leisure Centre in Bury on Sunday 31 January, and will feature a variety of taster sessions including Kettlercise, Piloxing, Bodystep and Metafit. All proceeds will go towards helping those affected by the Boxing Day floods.

The fitness fundraiser kicks off at 12.30pm and runs until 2.30pm, costing just £3 on the door.

Bury Leisure fitness instructors Julie Porter and Debbie Young-Browning came up with the idea after hosting a five-hour charity Zumbathon last year. That event raised £660 for Bury Cancer Support Centre, and the two are hoping for even more this time.

Julie said: “I saw the devastation caused by the floods first hand as Debbie and I volunteered during the clean-up. It was heartbreaking to see fellow local residents left homeless and their possessions destroyed, especially children who had all their Christmas presents ruined.

“We wanted to do something to help and we know that the regulars in our exercise classes feel the same. This event is open to everybody, whether you’re completely new to exercise or whether we’ve already seen you before. It only costs £3 and you’ll be helping us on our way to what we hope will be a great fundraising total.”

Entry to the fundraiser costs £3 on the door. Please contact Julie on 07716 237272 to reserve a place or make a donation.

­­­­ENDS

Press release issued: 12 January 2016.

Picture: Fitness instructors Debbie Young-Browning (left) and Julie Porter are hosting a fitness fundraiser on Sunday 31 January to raise money for flood victims.

Note to editors:

About I Will If You Will

I Will If You Will is focused on changing women’s and girls’ behaviours towards taking part in sport and physical activity with the aim of getting more women and girls being more active, more often, and helping to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bury.

It aims to overcome the many practical and emotional barriers to being active, while encouraging women to support each other by joining the I Will If You Will community.

The Phase One campaign (2013–14) was delivered by Bury Council with £2.3 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England. For the Phase Two campaign (2015–16), Sport England has allocated a further £2 million to extend delivery.

The successful IWIYW pilot campaign identified valuable insight and helped develop the foundations for Sport England’s national This Girl Can campaign, which launched in January 2015, as well as Sport England’s practical guide to helping women and girls get active (www.sportengland.org/womenandgirls).