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Award for Denton lady supporting other women during lockdown

A Denton woman has been rewarded for going above and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic.

Louise Park, 40, has been presented with a Citizen’s Award by her local MP Andrew Gwynne for her work in keeping people mentally and physically fit during the lockdown.

Louise is a personal trainer who has suffered herself with mental health problems throughout her life before receiving a diagnosis last year.

Those struggles haven’t stopped her from helping others, including domestic violence victims, mental health sufferers and families who have children with additional needs.

In response to the stresses many people were feeling during lockdown, she set up an online support network called Strength and Soul, which helps people to keep a positive mind,

With members unable to meet up in person she turned to technology to help fill the gap, holding half an hour zoom exercise classes and sharing inspirational messages and low fat recipes in a WhatsApp group.

Louise said: “There’s a lot of people who have never suffered with depression or anxiety before coronavirus.

“I designed a journal around this programme and people were writing about how they were feeling. They’ve gone on to start doing walking and changing their lifestyles - they’ve stuck to it and they’re changing their lives all the time.

“There’s a lot of ladies that lost a lot of weight so we had some really good transformations, and it was all for free.

“I had more than 35 people on there and then more on social media, we just created a community to help people improve their mental health and stay connected through exercise, nutrition and yoga. We just became a really good community.”

She was presented with her award by Andrew Gwynne MP, Dukinfield Councillors John Taylor, Jackie Lane and Brian Wild, and local campaigner Naila Sharif.

The MP said: “It was a pleasure to present this award to Louise in recognition of the contribution that she has made during the lockdown.

“Keeping fit and healthy - both mentally and physically - has been a real challenge during the lockdown, so I’d like to thank Louise for doing so much to help others in this regard.”

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