Thursday, 13th February 2020
Award-winning campaigner - Dr Sara Payne MBE – visited Pendle Leisure Trust’s Feelgood Factory to inspire people to take up exercise.
The former Victims’ Champion and mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne, made the trip up North to Colne as part of a special educational event to raise awareness of the centre’s innovative power-assisted exercise facility.
Following the severe physical effects from a stroke 10 years ago - which left Sara with left-side paralysis - she told the group of visitors about her fight to regain her independence and mobility via power-assisted exercise.
Pendle Leisure Trust’s Feelgood Factory has a 12-piece, power-assisted exercise circuit which is already engaging older adults and users living with a wide range of long-term health conditions.
There was also a talk about the research and evidence of power-assisted exercise by Sheffield Neuro Physiotherapy Rachel Young and some of the visitors tried out the equipment for themselves.
Samantha Lamb, Manager of Pendle Leisure Centre, said: “It was nice to see so many people come along to find out what the Feelgood Factory offers. Everyone was invited to return for a free trial and we had a few takers on the night.
“I would like to thank Sara for coming along to tell her story and promote the Feelgood Factory for us. Her talk was really touching and inspirational and was well received by everyone there, with some people asking her questions and talking about their own personal experiences.”
Sara Payne said: “I wanted to tell people about the benefits of power-assisted exercise, which has helped to improve my mobility, posture and given me greater confidence to continue the fight in my stroke recovery.”
Charissa Newsome, from Shapemaster, added: “We were delighted with the number of people who turned up, which included staff from the Stroke Association. The research we’ve done with stroke sufferers, including Sara, clearly demonstrates the huge benefit our power-assisted exercise equipment offers and this was emphasized on the night.”
