Burnham & Dengie Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses and groups regularly over coming weeks in our UP CLOSE IN MALDON DISTRICT features in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for your full return to life and business as usual.

Today we feature an interview with Maldon's Joani St Cliere, who in the pandemic took her Essex Health and Fitness classes online - and won multiple local and national awards for them.

It's not long after starting the interview with Joani St Cliere that something becomes very clear – while she is celebrating winning a number of local and national awards for her work during the pandemic, she too has felt its impact in so many ways.

At the start of the crisis she was just finishing her six years of study for a Physiotherapy degree and had built up her business of running a variety of highly inclusive exercise and fitness classes, suiting all abilities.

"The effect of the pandemic was sudden and overwhelming," Joani says, "and in many ways for me, came at such a critical moment. I was just finishing a physical placement for my degree.

"Before Covid came along, we had built up the classes to between 600 and 800 members and we watched that go down to 150 overnight."

Those 150 were, of course, the members of her classes who decided to join them online.

"I was worried at first about how many of them would be able to," she explains, "and there were lots of times at first where I would be leading a class and my husband James would be helping someone to get online and join us.

"We had already started thinking about holding some online classes before the pandemic, but it had been something we thought we would do in the future. Suddenly, it was something we had to do and Covid brought it all forward."

Despite that, there is no doubt that Joani has made an outright success of taking her exercise classes online - and that they have proved an absolute lifeline to many members of the community.

Thus the awards so far, including local awards for the help and support she gave to people in the midst of the crisis, through to national recognition as Best Personal Health and Fitness Centre 2020 in the Fitness and Nutrition Awards, then Community Fitness Teacher of the Year 2021 and the Excellence Award For Online Fitness Class in the UK Enterprise Awards.

All of that barely does justice to the dozens of comments on Joani's social media posts, many of them incredibly moving to read. Put simply and succinctly, Joani was and is a lifeline for many in the midst of the unprecedented crisis caused by Covid-19.

However, Joani is also very aware of the impact the pandemic has had on her class members. For a start, there are those who have been lost.

"I will always think of them in the places where I knew them," she says, "and sometimes I can't think of those places without remembering them there."

And she knows that some people are struggling with finding again the confidence they once found in their physical classes.

Joani explains, "I have spoken to some who told me how anxious they are feeling about being with others in a group again. It is so sad because they all supported each other and the friendship element of the physical classes was a hugely important thing."

Looking to the future, Joani is planning to hold a mix of both physical and online classes, seeing that this makes the classes accessible to many more people. If the pandemic restrictions continue to lift as planned, then Joani hopes to restart her physical classes on 17 May in line with the 'roadmap' out of lockdown.

There's a great selection to choose from, too, from Zumba fitness to Yoga and Pilates for everyone from beginners to those with advanced skills.

Then there are two classes that Joani feels especially proud to deliver.

"I created a programme called 'Gentle Cardio' which is very inclusive and has members with conditions such as fibromyalgia, ME and diabetes. I play disco and Motown music and the members love it. There's no jumping or twisting," she explains.

'Pilates for Back Care' has been created for people with serious back problems and is designed to help people to manage their condition.

Joani, who has also been working as a physiotherapist with the NHS since August, adds: "As a physio, once you get to talk to people you can see the relief in their faces. Getting people to move again is a massive part of my job, really."

You can find out more about Joani's classes by visiting the Essex Health and Fitness Facebook page using the link here or by visiting the website using the link here or by email to: [email protected]

You can also get in touch with Joani on 07787 512617.