BLK BOX supply new gym to help cancer patients

Belfast-headquartered BLK BOX is providing equipment for a new 3,000 sq ft premium fitness gym in Exeter that prioritises working with those impacted by cancer.

The Move Forward gym, which opens this month, will include a wide range of Belfast-manufactured equipment including a custom BLK BOX rig, bespoke storage units and an array of strength training equipment.

The gym has been born from the Battle Cancer fundraising movement and event series, of which BLK BOX is the official training partner.

It will offer special membership and programmes for those undergoing post-cancer treatment and for those referred by the NHS.

Highlighting how the new gym will ‘provide an invaluable service by prioritising those impacted by cancer’, Catherine McLaughlin, Marketing Manager BLK BOX explained “Many of our staff and friends have been affected by cancer in some way or another, so we have been very pleased to partner with Battle Cancer which has the goal of using fitness to help improve the lives of those affected by cancer.

“As a result of our support for Battle Cancer, we have become involved with the Move Forward Gym which has been founded by a group of friends who met whilst building Battle Cancer.

“Whilst supporting overall fitness and wellbeing, the new gym will provide an invaluable service by prioritising those impacted by cancer, who often cannot access other gyms if they are undergoing post cancer treatment due to issues around insurance.”

Move Forward Gym founder, Scott Britton said: “Move Forward Gym has been designed to be premium, accessible and affordable, with every small detail and decision being based on our members and how to support people through fitness and community.

“Our collective goal is to use fitness as a tool for mental and physical recovery for all.”

As more young people survive cancer treatment there is a greater need to support this cohort of cancer survivors - particularly for advice and guidance on fitness post-treatment.

With an army of fitness professionals ready to offer a hand to rebuild that person physically and mentally, this can have an unmeasurable impact on the millions of people affected by cancer worldwide.

Catherine McLaughlin added: “When designing the gym, it was important to the team behind it that the equipment was high quality and extremely functional. After visiting BLK BOX HQ in August, the team spent time in our showroom gym, manufacturing facility, and warehouse and had the chance to see, touch and use our equipment, allowing them to handpick the products they wanted to build their dream facility.”

The Battle Cancer Move Forward program, of which BLK BOX is official training partner is based on research from CLIC Sargent’s Move Forward initiative - a study examining the impact of a 10-week functional fitness program on the fitness and quality of life of teenage and young adult cancer survivors.

The program puts cancer survivors in local gyms and provides them with a 10-week functional fitness course. Over 40 people have already completed the program in Belfast over the past few years.

At the end of each 10-week course, one attendee is picked to receive a free course to become a fitness coach.

After that, they then commit to teaching the next wave of survivors.

The Move Forward gym, whilst separate from the fundraising movement, has been born from it and shares the same ethos of using functional fitness to support wellbeing and rehabilitation, prioritising those in post-cancer treatment.

For information visit www.battlecancer.com/move-forward or go to https://www.blkboxfitness.com/

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