It’s March 2012 and thanks to the platform of social media I am in conversation with a fitness professional called Kevin Matthew. Together we talk about the summer riots of 2011 and how this has affected the livelihood of the freelance instructor: problems getting to work safely, cancelling classes and the loss of valuable revenue. The plight of the freelancer: no show no pay! It was hard to see any support from the corporate health clubs where many of us depend on regular work. The clubs were suffering from the recession and jobs were being cut. Who to fire, their permanent staff or the freelancers? It was a no brainer.
Who’d have thought that this conversation was to spark innovation and create something with huge potential?
Kevin and I talked about developing a community of fitness enthusiasts where we could all network, share ideas and support one another. Enfield’s Fit! was born and, thanks to the enthusiasm of other likeminded instructors, we went on to produce the very first fitness guide for Enfield, highlighting local instructors and businesses. The guide was delivered to 10,000 households and included a really fun flash mob in Enfield Town where local shoppers watched Zumba, Combat and Yoga demonstrations.
It was clear we could develop this further. So we took the concept of ‘pop up shops’ and developed Pop Up Fitness. Initially it was an event, but with a future plan to develop something more permanent. Local instructors, gyms and studio owners pulled together and we created an event where the community could try out different fitness classes. It was a super family event offering something for everyone and we were able to raise awareness, and £400 for The Nightingale Cancer Support Centre, and award two outstanding instructors for their positive contribution to the health and wellbeing of the community. Lara Gold Ezekiel of Love2dance won Enfield’s Fit! Instructor of the Year Award, and Danny Turanli of Body Bootcamp won Enfield’s Fit! Business of the year Award.
So here we are 2013 and we’re opening a pop up fitness centre. On Monday 14th January we open at The Dugdale Centre, London Road, Enfield Town. The purpose: to offer affordable classes delivered by some of the greatest instructors in Enfield. To find out more, find us on Facebook. We have some amazing events and guest fitness professionals in the pipeline and we promise to keep you up to date with all the trends available to keep you active, healthy and fit.
This guest post was written by Cathy Underwood, who started Enfield’s Fit! with Kevin Matthew, inspired in part by the London riots in 2011 and in part by the pop up shop movement.
Empty Shops Network 