NI fitness leaders to take part in national relay

Fitness leaders in Northern Ireland are set to run, walk and cycle over 100 miles next week as part of a team effort to raise £250,000 for Mental Health UK.

The national relay will see 1500 gym staff get involved across the UK.

The week long non-stop event will cover all major UK cities, starting in Aberdeen and ending in Plymouth.

In Northern Ireland, staff across the province will travel to Belfast, before working out during their ferry journey, to pass on the baton to colleagues in Liverpool.

Jamie Cromie is the Cluster Manager at Puregym in Bangor:

"Northern Ireland has been a little bit challenged because obviously we're separated from the rest of the UK.

"What we wanted was to find a way to pass through all the towns that we have a Puregym in.

"We're starting in Londonderry/Derry next week and at the same time the guys will be starting in Newry as well.

"So the plan of attack is that any means of human powered transport we're all going to make our way in towards Belfast."

Sir Chris Hoy will also be taking part in Scotland, he is due to launch the event in Aberdeen before joining the final stage of the relay from Exeter to Plymouth.

According to Mental Health UK, more people are affected by mental illness than by cancer or heart disease.

The charity says those with severe mental illness die on average 20 years earlier than the general population.

Jamie told Downtown COOL FM the inspiration behind the project:

"We see unfortunately stories every week where people have had mental health issues and it's led to tragedy and we want to be able to support people.

"It means a lot to us, everybody can be affected by mental health issues, you do not know what's around the corner."

Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rates in the UK and in 2015 had the highest on record.

Jamie told us he has noticed a trend in people trying to improve their emotional well being:

"Me personally I've been in the fitness industry for about 15 years and it's changed massively.

"Before people would've joined the gym for physical health reasons and aesthetic reasons but what we're finding more and more now is people are joining to look after their mental health."

You can donate to the Puregym national relay event here