Several gyms and studios in the UK have collectively generated over £10,000 in donations for the people of Ukraine.

In the wake of the war against Ukraine, many gym and studio owners across the fitness industry have come together to host charitable campaigns and events for their communities to participate in to collect donations and provide supplies for the organisations aiding Ukraine.

TeamUp, a fitness management software company, first noticed the rise in ”donation-based” and “pay what you want” fitness classes and events being created by their customers to show support for Ukraine in March. The incredible generosity of the members of these studios and gyms and demonstration of philanthropy has enabled these fitness businesses to raise over £10,000 for organisations and charities aiding the people of Ukraine.

Several of the gym and studio owners responsible for creating and hosting these events and campaigns are Northants Pilates owners Karen and Dan Grinter, One Element Franchise owner Richard Giles and trainer Ruby Padwick, Oti Mabuse and Marius Iepure owners of Oti and Marius Dance Studio, Sam Beagle owner of uFit, and Sarah Bargeron and the team at Body Control Pilates.

Here’s what they had to say about the motivation and ambition behind positively taking advantage of their businesses and communities to show even greater support to Ukraine’s citizens and refugees.

"After we listed our classes and started watching donations coming it was amazing to see. People are unbelievably generous and it’s their generosity that has made it. All we’ve done is what we do every day and that’s allowed us to provide a vehicle to do some fitness and send donations to these charities supporting Ukraine." - Karen Grinter, Northants Pilates

"Early in the Ukrainian conflict, we were approached by one of our trainers, Ruby Padwick, who asked us if we could do something to raise money for aid to Ukraine. Within 5 days we had about 60 members on a live Sunday morning online session. We don't normally run any sessions on a Sunday, so we decided this would be the best time to have this bonus online session which was open to all our members across our franchise parks. Ruby's energetic session had about 60 members and raised £5,000 for the charity British-Ukrainian Aid from those who did and couldn't attend. Thanks to all our members who took part and donated and Ruby for the suggestion!" - Richard Giles, One Element Tooting & Streatham

"The wife of one of our members is Ukrainian and she was the grand prize winner of a free month at ufFit. She always wanted to come to our gym, but more recently it’s been difficult, so it was fantastic that she won and everyone was so very happy for her. This is definitely something we will do again. It brings everyone together in the community. There’s a deeper purpose and meaning behind it when you’re working out and donating to an important cause that’s bigger than yourself." - Sam Beagle, uFit

"We really felt like we needed to do something and we wanted to do something. We have a great community of teachers and 1500 members around the world. Whenever we have done anything with the teachers we’ve been so supported in it and they are such a generous lot. Anastasia is going to be teaching the class live from Lviv and she said she’s hoping that there aren’t going to be any air raid sirens or cutting the network during the class. It’s a very real-life situation that they are dealing with" - Sarah, Body Control Pilates

To learn more about the efforts put forth by these fitness businesses and learn how to host donation-based classes and events, check out the full article on TeamUp.