A Hayes woman who neglected exercise for 20 years will feature in a campaign for the national gym club where she discovered a passion for fitness.

Parita Patel, 43, joined Northolt's branch of PureGym Limited just three years ago but the health improvements she has achieved inspired the 'no frills' health club to include her in their latest 'Members Stories' campaign.

Patel decided she needed to make health and wellbeing her top priority after she was diagnosed with hypertension at the age of 33.

She said: "The gym has brought me out of my shell completely. Since working out at PureGym I am more confident, I smile more and I try to do things I might have feared to do before."

The ex financial software consultant decided to quit her job at 40, admitting a combination of stress, eating sporadically and not looking after herself had taken a massive toll on her health.

Now a committed work-out enthusiast, she has witnessed changes to both her mental and physical health including being able to reduce the medication she takes for hypertension.

Patel has not been alone on her journey to a healthier lifestyle, she enlisted the help of Michael, a personal trainer at PureGym's Northolt branch.

The dedicated pair first met while she was peddling on an exercise bike and she recalls feeling comfortable with Michael from the start.

However, he acknowledges it took time for Patel to build confidence and get her mindset to focus on herself.

This year, the successful team were forced to stop their visits to the gym due to Covid.

The lockdown resulted in Britain's largest gym by membership closing the doors to its 260 nationwide gyms leaving more than a million customers to find alternative ways to exercise.

Patel added: "When the Government announced English gyms could reopen it was like Christmas had come early! I couldn't sleep the night before. Four months without the gym had felt like a long time and I'm over the moon to be back."

Ms Patel's full account along with other gym members' stories will feature on PureGym's social media channels and website over the coming weeks.

Details can be found at: www.puregym.com