A north Cumbrian exercise group with a twist is relieved to be able to restart its face-to-face sessions and reconvene with its “community”.

Clubbercise Carlisle With Aleasha is a fitness class that takes people back to the dance floor, offering exercise with a night club feel. 

Aleasha Wallace started the Carlisle Clubbercise group in 2016 and admits she was over the moon to see familiar faces return to the sessions.

“It is such a unique thing and even after lockdown, people that have been at home and maybe gained a bit of extra weight can come in and dance in the dark for an hour and jump around with their glow sticks,” said Aleasha.

“It doesn’t feel like a workout and they are getting so many benefits from without worrying about going to a gym and being stared at.

“We’re just trying to build it back up again. I think a few people are still quite nervous to come into a group exercise atmosphere, but we’ve still got our loyal crew who have been with me since day one.”

Although some classes are currently being run in lighter conditions at this time of year, most of the sessions are run in a pitch-black environment with disco lights and florescent glow sticks to give a ‘club-land atmosphere.

Dancers will exercise to a mixture of 90s and 00s music.

A big advocate of the benefits of clubbercise, Aleasha said it has proved vital to people's mental health, including her own.

Before teaching Clubbercise, Aleasha worked as a singer and dancer on cruise ships.

She said: “I was really struggling with my own journey, with my own weight, and with my own mental health around that.

“I’ve been able to pass on my experience to my crew.

“It’s given my life a purpose.

“It gives me the opportunity to help other people, which is massively fulfilling and it helps me with my own mental health.

“Having somewhere to be and go is a massive thing for myself and other people.

“Just having that time to go somewhere and be in that in room in that moment, where you are singing and dancing away for 45 minutes to an hour and you switch off from everything else that’s going on inside.”

The Carlisle sessions are run from Morton Manor, Currock Community Centre, The Belah Centre, and the Harraby Community Centre.

Clubbercise is a concept that was introduced to the world in 2013, with the aim of offering an alternative exercising environment to a gym.

There are Clubbercise groups across the UK, with Aleasha’s being the only one in Carlisle.

On their first sessions, Aleasha said: "The buzz around it was insane.

“Eventually, I ended up quitting my part-time job and now I teach five or six classes a week.”

For more information on Clubbercise Carlisle and how you can get involved, visit www.bookwhen.com/clubbercise-girl-power-carlisle.