'Dark days come - but fitness helps the struggle'

Catherine McFadzean came to the mobile gym after years of drug abuse and living rough

A woman who became a drug addict, lived rough and experienced abusive relationships said her life was turned around when she started attending a community gym.

Catherine McFadzean, 29, from Cambridge, said she felt both "blessed and saved" when her church introduced her to a mobile gym facility that offered free fitness sessions.

The gym is in a purpose-built van and owner Liam Rushmer, 40, travels all over Cambridgeshire offering sessions for those referred to the facility by social workers, doctors and other organisations.

Seven months after first using the mobile gym, Ms McFadzean has qualified as a fitness instructor and has an internship with Mr Rushmer, which she said had given her life "a purpose".

Mr Rushmer started his company Fitness Rush in about 2015 and expanded to the mobile facility in 2019.

The van is equipped with treadmills, a rowing machine, a spin bike and weights benches among other things.

"We work with individuals who don't have an opportunity to train or exercise due to mental health or financial barriers - everything we do is complimentary," he said.

The organisation receive some funding from both the county and city councils, the Postcode Lottery and they use money raised from the company's members' gym.

The van travels across Cambridgeshire reaching clients who might not otherwise have access to fitness sessions

He started his own fitness journey in 2007 when he was badly injured in a crash.

"After that I used fitness as a tool to help me physically and mentally," Mr Rushmer said.

"I fell in love with fitness, and the rest is history."

The gym in a van was built as "a community outreach vehicle to take our services out to a wider field".

"We go to many rural locations where people can't access public transport - we take the gym to them."

He said their oldest client was 98 and they work with people with a variety of health issues including Parkinson's disease and arthritis.

"Anyone can exercise as long as they have the right support," he added.

Liam Rushmer said fitness training had helped his own physical and mental health

One of those helped by the mobile gym is Ms McFadzean who said she wanted to share her story with the BBC.

She said much of her life since her mid-teens had been "a bad journey".

Both a "victim and survivor" of abusive relationships, she had been involved in drugs and alcohol since the age of 15 and was frequently homeless as a result.

"I struggled to follow rules - I struggled to fit in," she said.

Eventually she turned to addiction support groups "but I didn't find the solution to my problem until I found fitness and this community".

Her church introduced her to the mobile gym and she has not looked back since.

"I feel very thankful to say I am now in a better place, but dark days always come and I'm using fitness and the community to struggle on through that."

She now has qualifications in personal training and has been sober for six months.

"I feel blessed, and I do feel saved - and this organisation has been a massive part of my journey - and my future journey to come," she added.