A young personal trainer who helps run a gym in Forres has been awarded a grant to take her neurological fitness centre online, meaning it can help people all over the UK with conditions such as MS, Parkinsons, Stroke and FND.
Mollie Powney became one of Scotland’s youngest Personal Trainers when she qualified after a year’s work experience at Life and Sole on the Forres Enterprise Park in 2017, just after her 17th birthday.
Now 25, she manages the gym and has launched a new venture, Project Neuro,
“We are Moray’s first neurological fitness centre, providing movement and exercise for anyone who is living with a long-term condition such as MS, Parkinsons, Stroke and FND.
“We take pride in our sessions, whether it be one-to-one or classes tailored and specific to whoever walks through our doors.
Maintaining fitness, mobility and movement
Mollie’s dad Dave Powney owns a specialist Neurological Physio Clinic in Elgin called Move4ward. She worked with him through the Covid pandemic and realised that after people recovered from the injury or ailment at physio they had nowhere to maintain their fitness, mobility and movement.
“After a lot of work and talking to potential future customers about what they would like to see, Project Neuro was born.
“I applied to Scottish Edge in the Young Edge category with the hope of winning some funding to help us take our services to the next level. It was tough but incredibly worth it and the networking it provided in itself was worth it.
“We aim to create an online and in-person space for people to access our one-of-a-kind service.
“I still work and love being at Life and Sole in Forres, as well as now running Project Neuro in Elgin with my fantastic team, Jonny Fyfe and Natalie Gilray who I am so pleased to work alongside.
“Online means we can help people nationwide. With specific exercises tailored to their condition and needs as well as hybrid classes that means people can join in with the sessions from home. Having these conditions can be extremely unpredictable and so being able to access us when you cant physically get to us is a huge benefit to people.
“We also have a four-legged team member at Project Neuro too… Ethel is a one-year-old French Bulldog, who has just started her training to become a therapy dog for Project Neuro – offering a different service again for the future of our facility.”
More details can be found at projectneuro.co.uk/
Pictured: Mollie Powney (left) with Natalie Gilray and Jonny Fyfe.