A FITNESS fanatic from Worcester who transformed her life through exercise wants to help others to do the same.

Irene Surridge, a health and fitness coach and owner of Surr-fit, has organised a series of free outdoor fitness sessions for the people of Worcester.

The 41-year-old, who used to be obese but now teaches 16 exercise classes a week and has six regular personal training clients, hopes participants will be inspired to follow in her footsteps.

She said: “My passion is getting people into fitness regardless of their shape or size. The reason I got into fitness originally was because I was overweight and I’d had a very abusive childhood, lacked a lot of confidence and was going through a tough time mentally.

“My first fitness class was horrendous - I felt intimidated. But as soon as I lost weight I got more and more into it and built my confidence up. I never have a down day now. I hope these free classes will help other people to change their lives for the better.”

The classes are open to anyone aged over 18 and 14 to 17-year-olds are welcome if they are accompanied by a suitable adult.

While they are free to attend, people can make a donation each week if they choose and all the funds will go to a local charity.

The free fitness sessions are being staged on an open space on St Peter’s but Irene hopes eventually to stage them at Power Park.

She also does fitness sessions at three other venues – The David Lloyd Club at Sixways, St Peter’s Village Hall and Whittington Village Hall. “I have a passion to get everyone exercising. I have all sorts of levels and I can teach people with problems like depression, anxiety, back issues, diabetes and other health problems. I can take exercise referrals from GPs.”

Irene can tailor her classes to individuals and has the advantage of understanding how people feel when they first start exercising – she was there once herself.

She said the obesity epidemic is not going away and people get into a whole cycle of depression, eating, losing mobility and anxiety.

“The hardest thing for anyone is coming to that first class and getting through the door. Once people do that they realise we are human and we all struggle at times but you have to start somewhere.

“The classes are very social and have a nice atmosphere and if someone is struggling to do an exercise, I can give them something easier that better suits them.”

Anyone interested in joining the free exercise classes at St Peter’s can contact Irene via her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/irene.david1.