Are you up for the Zumbathon Challenge?

Two of Bury’s most well-loved fitness faces are inviting women and girls to join them at a five-hour charity Zumbathon on Sunday (26 April).

Fitness instructors Julie Porter and Debbie Young-Browning have set up the event, which runs from 1pm to 6pm at Castle Leisure Centre in Bury, to raise funds for Bury Cancer Support Centre and celebrate five years of teaching Zumba together.

The pairing first started teaching the Latin American-inspired dance workout in 2010 at Castle Leisure Centre, before branching out into the local community as part of the ‘I Will If You Will’ (IWIYW) campaign which is led by Bury Council and with National Lottery funding from Sport England.

The Zumbathon is open to women and girls aged 14+ and participants can join in for as little or as long as they like. Fancy dress is encouraged and there will also be a raffle with a £50 Antony for Hair voucher on offer as the top prize.

Julie said: “The past five years have flown by and, in that time, Debbie and I have seen hundreds of women and girls enjoying the benefits of being more active through Zumba.

“Women love it because it’s an easy way to fit exercise into their lives – they’re too busy enjoying themselves to notice it’s a workout and it doesn’t matter if you’ve got two left feet, it’s all about having a good time.

“We want to see as many ladies doing their thing – hopefully in fancy dress for an added bit of fun – and we hope that by celebrating five years of Zumba in Bury we’ll raise a fantastic amount for Bury Cancer Support Centre, a cause which is close to many of our hearts.”

Tickets for the event are £5 and can bought on the day, or reserved by calling Julie Porter on 0161 253 7729.

For more information about I Will If You Will, please visit www.iwillifyouwill.co.uk

ENDS

Press release issued: 20 April 2015.

Photo: Julie Porter and Debbie Young-Browning show how it’s done – will you join them?

Note to editors:

I Will If You Will is a programme designed to help the women and girls of Bury get more active, more often. It aims to overcome the many practical barriers to being active, while encouraging women to support each other by joining the I Will If You Will community.

Phase One of the campaign was delivered by Bury Council with £2.3 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England. For Phase Two of the campaign, Sport England has allocated a further £2 million to extend delivery over the next two years. I Will If You Will is a programme focused on changing women 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 improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bury. In doing so the ambition is to create a guide on how to practically go about engaging with women and girls locally and the implications of doing so.