Hours of exercise help pile on pounds for hospice funds (From Swindon Advertiser)

Hours of exercise help pile on pounds for hospice funds

1:40pm Monday 18th March 2013 in News

THREE hours of non-stop Zumba helped to raise thousands of pounds for Prospect Hospice.

Zumba instructors Claudia Albornoz, Patricia Barbosa and Aaron Dwyer led the session from 2pm to 5pm at Commonweal School on Saturday.

The event saw about 60 women taking part and raised more than £2,500 for Prospect Hospice.

Claudia, who organised the fundraiser, said: “It was really vibrant and there was lots of energy. People were really happy to be there.

“It takes a lot of energy – each hour of Zumba burns about 500 calories. Every hour we were shouting ‘come on’. The last 10 minutes were really good because we all knew there wasn’t long left.”

Claudia, who is originally from Chile, chose to raise funds for Prospect Hospice in memory of one of one of her late fitness class members, Sam Staff, who was cared for at the Prospect.

“They rely on public support and it is good to support a charity in the local area,” said Claudia.

A similar event is being planned for the summer.

For more details, email latin5.claudia@hotmail.co.uk.