Generous gym owner helps firecrew fitness at Caistor

Being a firefighter means levels of fitness have to be maintained, but that isn’t always easy in a small town if facilities are limited.

Now, however, the owner of Caistor’s new BFit Lincs Gym has come up with an offer they can’t refuse.

Amy Atkins is running specific firefighter fitness sessions on a Monday night and the generous gym owner is also giving the Caistor crew a discounted membership of just £5 a month, rather than the usual £25.

“We are very grateful to Amy for her support,” said firefighter Steve Critten.

“Being a retained crew, and in an old-style station, we don’t have a gym on site and there is no funding available to create one.

“Amy’s generous offer means we can stay in the town for our fitness training rather than go to Grimsby, which also means we can now stay on call while training and give fire cover to the town.”

For Amy it is something she says she is pleased to do to help support the town. She said: “I’m pleased to be able to help members of the fire crew keep fit.

“They have done so much to help and support me, it is good to give something back.”

However, it is not just the firefighters who are enjoying having somewhere to keep fit.

The gym opened last October and now has more than 300 members on the books.

“It is going really well,” added Amy.

“As well as the members, we have people who come along for the exercise classes, like the mumfit and gentlefit, aimed at the less mobile, using a chair exercise programme.”

A further community-focused activity is free CPR training on the last Friday of every month at the gym.

Anyone can go along to the training, which is being made possible through funding from the British Heart Foundation.

○ Caistor Fire Crew is currently looking to recruit new on-call firefighters, especially for daytime cover.

More details on the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue website.