Trainer who raised thousands for charity is up for awards
A personal trainer who only opened her gym last year is now up for three top awards.
Audrey Beljaflah has been nominated for Female PT of the Year; Newcomer of the Year; and Community Award of the Year in this year’s Scottish Health and Fitness Awards.
The 37-year-old from Hamilton has not only dedicated the past year to the wellbeing of her clients, but has also led inspiring fundraising drives for Blameless Charity, raising approximately £4000 for the cause.
Audrey has worked as a personal trainer for the past three years but only opened her gym, A2B Fitness, based in Blantyre Industrial Estate, in September 2021.
That was after ongoing lockdown restrictions had already disrupted her business. But thanks to Hamilton Accies, Audrey was offered an outdoor space to run her sessions and boot camps, which she says saved her career.
As a way of repaying the Scottish Championship club, the fitness coach got involved in supporting their partner charity Blameless where she held fundraising events and a vital Christmas appeal for local children.
Audrey’s work in the past seven months hasn’t gone unnoticed as her 100 clients praised her amazing journey by nominating her for the gongs in appreciation for everything she has done for them and the wider community.
Audrey said:“it’s nice to be recognised for your hard work but it’s great to have the community behind us because we do so much for Hamilton too.
“I’ve been personal training for three years but because of lockdown there’s times when we obviously couldn’t work. But we managed to get an underground car park courtesy of Hamilton Accies so we’ve established a relationship with them who allowed us to use their outdoor space for training while waiting on the gyms being back up and running again.
“The business only opened in September last year. Combined with boot camp classes and personal training we’re sitting at just over 100 clients.
“And it was them that put me up for the awards. I don’t usually like to take any of the recognition for the hard work that my clients do. They’re my winners.
“I totally appreciate it, I’m so overwhelmed. It doesn’t feel like a job because I enjoy it so much.”
Audrey’s classes cover a wide range of different people of all ages and fitness levels, who all love the feel-good factor of the sessions.
She continued:“i’ve always wanted to create a safe place for people. My gym doesn’t have any mirrors because I know some people don’t like to look at themselves or feel self-conscious about the way they look at that moment in time.
“Everyone is so welcome. As much as you’re there to get fit and stronger, a lot of people enjoy the social aspect to get that environment with like-minded people.
“There’s people there ages from 18 all the way up to 70 so it covers everyone of all different fitness levels who support each other all the time.”
And speaking of her charitable efforts, Audrey added: “Once Hamilton Accies allowed us into their park to train, I spoke to the stadium manager and asked what I could do for them saving my career.
“He suggested running some events and donating to Blameless Charity. So the first thing I did was an event called the Midnight Inn where we made cocktails and sold tickets, and managed to raise £2700.
“Then we did a charity rounders game raising £600. And then we did a Christmas people where 100 pairs of pyjamas were donated. And we’re now doing an Easter appeal too.”
Audrey is now urging the local community to get behind her and support by voting for her in the awards.
You can vote for Audrey and A2B Fitness in the Scottish Health and Fitness Awards at www.shfawards.co.uk/vote/
Voting closes on May 28 with the awards ceremony taking place on June 30 in Glasgow.