A mobile gym in Durham is changing the way people exercise, and County Council worker Julie Lavery is proud of its growing reputation.

Wellness on Wheels (WOW) is a state-of-the-art mobile fitness facility that aims to help people across County Durham lead more healthy lives.

Since its introduction in 2005, over 6,500 members of the public have used the truck which contains bikes, treadmills, cross-trainers and an assortment of weight machines.

Lavery told Get Involved: "We've got 17 pieces of equipment, all of which are fitted with monitors so the client can use a key to find out what they're achieving on each setting.

"It's exactly the same as a larger gym on a smaller scale. Our funders gave us the hot spot areas of cardiovascular disease for 40-70 year olds."

Influence

Lavery went on to explain the history behind the idea, adding: "The idea came from Michael Schumacher, who has a smaller version of the trailer that follows him around when he does his racing driving. It's a great legacy but I don't think he's seen it. We haven't seen his either but I imagine ours is a lot bigger than what he has!

"We're trying to work with the community to leave a legacy behind. We're trying to work with them to bring physical activity to their doorstep free of charge and then trying to work with them to get them sustaining their physical activity.

"In 2005 we've had over 7000 members join Wellness on Wheels and we've set up 10 Legacy Gyms across the county. We've got 139 volunteers on board running the gyms with support from ourselves and each Legacy gym has over 700 members."

Michelle Melvin, who voluntarily manages one of the facilities, said: "We all had lots of help from our local councils and a lot of hard work from the volunteers. It means a lot to the community - people of all ages. I think it's because of the relaxed atmosphere we've got in here. Everybody knows eachother.

"It's quite about the social get-together. It's just like a coffee morning without the coffee."