A fully-inclusive gym has opened in Essex and is already training future Paralympic hopefuls.

Recently launched in Hockley, Essex, Cullys Access to Fitness comprises a 6,500sq ft (600sq m gym equipped by Star Trac and Powersport, an exercise studio, a therapy room, guide dog room and showering and changing facilities to suit wheelchair users and their carers.

The facility is the brainchild of Stuart Cully, a personal trainer qualified in disability fitness, who noticed a gap in the local market for a fully inclusive fitness facility. The site currently has around 120 members, with a 50 per cent split between disabled and able-bodied users.

Membership costs £35 a month with a £50 joining fee. Reductions are available and members receive a blood pressure test and a new exercise programme every four to six weeks.

Among the members is an athlete training for the 2008 Paralympics – who previously had to travel up to two hours to the Aspire centre in Middlesex to find suitable training facilities – and a member of the British Wheelchair Rugby Team.