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Local fitness academy owners have been helping to keep the community motivated and healthy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Black Sheep Fitness Academy, which is ran by husband and wife duo Lee and Eilish Tiffin, has been nominated as part of the council's #ProudtoSupport for keeping the community moving whilst also raising money for the NHS.

Lee and Eilish, who are both 39 and live in South Shields, were forced to close their Jarrow-based fitness academy when the government introduced strict social distancing measures to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Since then, they have worked hard to provide their members with free home workouts through their Facebook and YouTube accounts.

The Mayor of South Tyneside, Councillor Norman Dick, said: "On behalf of the people of South Tyneside, The Mayoress and I would like to convey our gratitude to you both for the work you have done to help keep residents in the borough fit and healthy during this time.

"As the Borough's First Citizen, I would like to say a huge personal thank you for being part of our community and for helping us address this challenge in such a fun way. We are extremely #proud."

Black Sheep Fitness Academy is being recognised for promoting exercise in a difficult time as a way of maintaining both physical and mental wellbeing.

Lee Tiffin said: "We have a fantastic group of members at the academy and we have done our utmost to keep providing a valuable service whilst everyone is at home. A lot of people join in our Facebook live workouts with their kids and it is great to see the whole family keeping active.

"The live workouts have been getting a lot of hits so we decided to host our first fancy dress fundraising workout for the NHS. Everyone had a good laugh watching me jump around dressed as Spiderman and we exceeded our target of £100 and reached over £1000 in hours.

"The benefits of keeping fit and healthy must not be underestimated at this time and we hope that we are playing our part in keeping the community in good spirits. When our gym opens, we look forward to seeing all our members and hopefully a few new faces who are looking to join a great community of fun-loving people."

Denise Inskip, a member at Black Sheep Fitness Academy, said: "I have attended Black Sheep Fitness Academy for several months now and Lee and Eilish have such non-stop energy that keeps everybody going. With the gym being closed, they have worked tirelessly to keep in regular contact with members, emailing daily workouts and providing free online workouts and motivation for anyone who follows the Black Sheep Fitness Academy page on Facebook and YouTube. I'm not sure how they manage this with four children that they are currently home schooling!

"They have touched so many people in the borough and helped transform the lives of people with problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and joint issues."