A SCHEME aimed at improving the health of Prestonians has been hailed as a success in a council report.

Exercise Your Options, launched last year, is a scheme whereby fitness instead of traditional forms of medicine, is the key.

Sufferers of a range of ailments from back problems to cancer are referred by their GPs to a leisure centre - Fulwood or West View - for a 12-week course of exercise tailored to their needs.

In one year, 279 clients aged 16 and above, were referred and had their fitness measured.

Those who successfully completed the course were rewarded with free use of the so-called LifeStyle studios.

Samantha Bland, a fitness officer for Preston Borough Council who oversees the scheme said: "Those who have put the effort into the scheme have benefited.

"Word of mouth makes the scheme a success.

"Many people, especially women, are self conscious about their health, especially if they are a little overweight. Most of them are a little nervous about attending gyms or fitness centres as they imagine them to be full of muscle-bound men," she added.

One of the prompts for the scheme was the Allied Dunbar National Fitness Survey which showed a high percentage of the population - 70% of men and 90% of women - do not exercise sufficiently.

Anyone requiring further information can contact Samantha Bland at Fulwood Leisure Centre on 716085.

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