Fitness friends walk 26-miles to raise money for life-saving machine

The operator of Mantra Fitness Studio based in the grounds of Amerton Farm, in Stowe by Chartley, in Staffordshire, organised a 26-mile sponsored walk towards the initiative, after discovering the nearest defibrillator was located 10 minutes from the attraction.

Gym owner James Pearson, 34, was joined by 11 members on the marathon distance walk from Tissington, in Derbyshire to Buxton and back. It took the participants including his parents Anna, 66, and Charlie, 67, just over 10 hours to complete the jaunt.

To mark the first anniversary of the opening of the new studio he decided to arrange the walk. The effort has so far raised £1,400 towards the £2,000 target.

"There was 12 of us including friends family and members on the walk. I've never done so much walking in one day and I've just about stopped aching now, but it it was well worth the effort.

"We started the day with £180 in the pot and ended it with £1,200. We've so far got £1,400 towards the defibrillator. "We'd be really happy if we can get over the line to install one at Amerton Farm which gets around 160,000 visitors every year.

"The nearest defib is a distance away, so if anyone ever needed help while visiting their survival chances would be less."

"We opened the venture in May last year and had to wait for the tier four Covid rules allowed indoor fitness centres to to open up. It was really hard at first opening during a pandemic as last year the fitness industry missed out on new year trading.

"This year has been much better and we're starting to grow as a business.

"We have a nice age range coming in with our oldest member aged 81. Lots of people never been a gym before and are finding us to be a good alternative to traditional gyms."

Training sessions include trampolining, bungee stretching, aerial silks, boxing and the centre also offers first aid courses.