Exercise expert Gemma Castle will be helping disabled people who are worried about going to the gym to get fit and healthy thanks to a funding award.
The Royal School for the Deaf and Communication Disorders in Cheadle has won an award of £2,500 a year for three years to set up an Inclusive Exercise Project, which will be run by Health and Fitness Co-ordinator Gemma Castle.
The project, funded by Stockport Council’s Health Innovation Fund, will encourage more disabled people from across Stockport borough to use RSDCD’s high spec fitness suite featuring adjustable equipment suitable for people with a range of disabilities. The suite, funded by the Peter Harrison Foundation, is fully accredited through the national Inclusive Fitness Initiative scheme.
Visitors to the subsidised sessions will get one-to-one fitness support and advice about exercise to suit their conditions. The centre has many group and individual members and is open to people of all abilities. Among those already using the suite is Lorraine Highcock from Stockport MS Society.
Gemma, 25, has been the Health and Fitness Co-ordinator at RSDCD for two years and has a raft of qualifications including a Degree in Sport Science, an Inclusive Fitness Initiative qualification around developing fitness programmes for disabled people and a GP Referral qualification from the Wright Foundation.
She says: “Large gyms can make disabled people feel self-conscious and our fitness suite is small but it has excellent equipment, all easily adjustable. At these drop-in sessions I will be here to give individual training programmes, which is particularly important for people with conditions like MS who shouldn’t over-tire themselves. The gym is open to everyone so disabled people can come and exercise alongside their carers and siblings.”
