Horsham fitness centre fundraise for heart health

Held at the indoor cycling studio NewU, in Depot Road, Horsham, eight teams came together for the event, organised by NewU owner, Petra Lewis.

Petra decided to run a number of events to raise awareness of the importance of exercise for heart health and defibrillators for saving lives following cardiac arrest.

At the same time, Petra wanted to fundraise for both the British Heart Foundation, and a portable defibrillator for the spin studio – a decision made after seeing Swedish footballer Christian Eriksen collapse on the pitch at the Euros earlier this year.

Petra said “The Spinathon was a fantastic event. The atmosphere was buzzing and although it was certainly not a competition, it very quickly became a race between a few of the more competitive teams. Now we have the defib in place we are all learning what to do if we ever come across someone who has sudden cardiac arrest”.

There was a huge raffle with fantastic prizes donated by many Horsham outlets and restaurants, and a silent auction for an F-type jag for the weekend, sponsored by Harwoods. We are really grateful for all the support.”

A total of £1,670 was raised in total which covered the new defibrillator and £840 went to the British Heart Foundation.

Petra said: “We all know that exercise improves our health and like all other muscles in our bodies our hearts need to be exercised to work properly. According to The British Heart Foundation being active can reduce the risk of developing some heart and circulatory diseases by as much as 35 per cent. That is a huge amount.”

Other events have been supported by local businesses and Petra said: “A yoga and Prosecco evening was hosted at New House Farm. It was incredibly relaxing doing yoga outside, looking over the New House Farm fields into the sunset. We also ran an extra endurance spin class (80 mins of non-stop spinning) and an extra Body Sculpt strength and toning class via Zoom.

Visit www.horshamfitnessandbeauty.co.uk for more details about the business.