Gym all in a spin to raise hospice cash

Fitness gurus saddle up to rake in over £600

Big-hearted members and staff at a Coatbridge gym put the pedal to the metal to do their bit for charity.

DW Fitness First hosted a special “spin-a-thon” day which saw 17 participants saddle up to cycle for three hours straight – while belting out a few karaoke tunes.

The muscle- testing fundraiser collected over £ 600 for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice’s Brick by Brick Appeal.

The appeal – launched in 2012 – is aiming to raise the £21 million as the Glasgowbased charity for children with life- threatening and shortening illnesses to build a new state-of-the-art hospice in Bellahouston Park.

DW Fitness First has been a keen supporter of the campaign and thanks to the help of the gym and other contributors, the hospice is just over £1m away from reaching its target.

The “spin-a-thon” was coorganised by the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice’s director of fundraising, and Airdrie resident, Heather Manson.

Heather has been a member of DW Fitness First for 12 years and told the Advertiser: “The DW Fitness team have played an invaluable role in supporting the hospice in the last few years.

“They’ve organised various fundraisers and their hard work is going to do a lot of good for our patients and their families.

“The gym hosted a ‘spina-thon’ a couple of years ago and was only too happy to get people back on their bikes.

“Everyone involved cycled for three hours and a microphone got passed around so we could do a bit of karaoke too!

“It was a brilliant day and everyone had a great time.”

DW Fitness First health club duty manager, Linda Ross, added: “Graham and David from The Mad Batter Bakery in Coatbridge were very kind in providing a raffle prize for the ‘spin-a-thon’.

“Prizes were also donated by Domino’s Pizza, our coach John Paul donated £ 120 personal training sessions and Splash Time Academy provided £ 85 worth of swimming lessons.

“The event was assisted by our fitness team, who created a Technogym Challenge specially to raise donations, and Rebecca from Splash Time Academy hosted a cake sale.”

To find out more about the hospice, visit www. princeandprincess ofwaleshospice.org.uk

Sweet success Raising more than £600 was a piece of cake for the gym members

Getting in gear Participants prepare for the “spin-a-thon”