When the fireworks fizzle out on New Year’s Day, most of us start to make mental notes of what we want to achieve in the 365 days ahead.
January 1 is the perfect opportunity to plan career moves, set fitness goals, and draw up our big, ambitious blueprints for the future.
But none of that really went to plan this time around.
2020 well and truly put the cat amongst the pigeons – leaving all our imaginative to-do lists in tatters.
Very few of us have ended up where we imagined – and Meg Harbon is the perfect case in point.
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If you’d told her in February that she’d soon be spending her working days inside a shipping container, she’d have laughed you out the room.
But here we are, riding the second wave of a global pandemic, and this former Pure Gym PT is leading training sessions from the confines of a steel cuboid in Pollard Yard.
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Meg converted the container – titled ‘The Training Yard’ – into a makeshift fitness space when red tape was wrapped around the gyms back in spring; initially launching online sessions before inviting her clients inside when the lockdown lifted.
It’s proven to be a refreshingly unique kind of workout environment.
Free of prying eyes and shiny mirrors, The Training Yard is a spot where anxious clients can train without feeling self-conscious; but also where more experienced gymmers can take their sessions to a whole new level undistracted.
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Meg was one of several local PT’s who launched their own fitness regime when the big gyms closed; but she also dedicated hours to building a document that ultimately turned into Manchester’s lockdown fitness bible.
At 69 pages, ‘Isolated Fitness’ is an absolute unit of a read – providing the kind of insightful, practical home training advice (with step-by-step instructions and images) that didn’t just carry locals through quarantine; but actually got them fitter and stronger.
The book is structured so readers can pick out their favoured exercises and work out the way they like; focusing on particular muscle groups or parts of the body.
And that’s exactly how Meg’s sessions function: She lets clients have a say in shaping their own fitness plans.
Many PTs take a somewhat unforgiving approach to training – with exercises, plans and diets all set in stone. Working out is exactly that: Work.
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But Meg doesn’t quite see it that way.
“If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it,” she explains.
“I try to build a plan alongside people so they can achieve their goals, get a sweat on, but actually look forward to their sessions.
“For me, it’s about finding the best plan for the individual – so they can develop a healthy relationship with exercise.
“I want working out to be the best part of their day, not a chore.”
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Meg understands how hard it can be to get into a productive fitness routine.
She spent over a decade working in hospitality, where alcohol, fatty foods and late nights were part and parcel of a standard evening.
It was only when Meg approached her third decade that she started exercising more regularly.
It began slowly, too. A run here. An exercise class there.
But it turned into something more serious when she started seeing results.
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Recognising a transformation in her physical and mental health, Meg opted to turn her hobby into a career.
“It was mainly about changing habits,” Meg says, explaining her transition from night owl to early bird.
“We’re all habitual creatures. It’s just about establishing that routine.”
Patterns are a big part of Meg’s lockdown workout philosophy.
She looks after a wide range of clients all looking to achieve different things (packing on muscle, losing baby weight, trimming belly fat) – but the reason they’ve all seen success is down to their ability to weave workouts into their routine; so it becomes as normal as brushing your teeth or taking a shower.
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“The hardest part for many people is actually doing it,” Meg says.
“Some people who step into the gym… they feel self-conscious. Some women are afraid to pick up weights. Others just feel a bit silly doing a new exercise for the first time.
“But when you’re at home or in the shipping container – it’s just you. You don’t have to worry about feeling stupid.”
People flocked to Meg’s online sessions during lockdown – where she helped her clients plan sessions around whatever equipment they had at home.
Dumbbells were like gold dust right throughout the summer – but Meg found a way around it by encouraging her clients to buy 5L water containers to use as substitute weights instead.
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It’s proof that top training doesn’t have to be expensive to get results.
“Getting a sweat on during the day means you’ll sleep better at night, have more energy the next day, and just be equipped to tackle life’s challenges better,” Meg tells us.
“You’ll find you want to eat better, too, to improve your training.
“It makes such a huge difference – especially in this climate.”
According to Meg, as little as 20 minutes working out every few days can lead to results.
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“Focus purely on exercise and shut out the world – even if it’s just for 20 minutes a couple of times a week.
“It can make such a huge difference.
“Sweat it out and you’ll see how much better you feel.”
Learn more about Charla Fitness – and grab a copy of the Isolated Fitness guide – here.
More info about the Training Yard – Meg’s shipping container exercise spot – is also available online.
Sport
The Manchester 24 Hour Run raises over £70,000 for the region’s homeless community
Danny Jones
The numbers are in for the 2025 Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness, which saw hordes of runners take over the city centre to generate money for the ever-crucial cause.
Having set an ambitious target of £50,000, not only did they manage to achieve their goal, they absolutely SMASHED it, totalling more than £70k.
In fact, with last-minute donations and matching contributions still trickling in over a fortnight on from this year’s event, the final figure is actually set to surpass that by several thousands.
Simply incredible stuff. Speaking on the night, here’s what the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, had to say about another inspiring edition of the annual endurance relay.
Running in the wind and rain, dashing through puddles in the cold, the pitch black and all through the night into the fresh cold Manc morning this month, more than a thousand volunteers, locals, businesses, and more laced up their trainers for the seventh edition in six years.
For those unaware, this event is a recurring 5k relay loop around Manchester, with the route designed to run around parts of the city centre where you can witness homelessness first-hand.
Taking place in November every year – when the region is even more dark, grey and wet than usual – this also gives participants an opportunity to further empathise with the discomfort felt by rough sleepers.
Well over 4,000 individuals and 165 organisations have taken part in this initiative since 2019, funding more than 70,000 nights of accommodation through the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and its ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme. That tally is set to jump massively, once again, after this year’s run.
Here’s how the 2025 stats on the tarmac break down:
100 running clubs and organisations
Over 1,500 individual runners and walkers
44 x five-kilometre consecutive relay laps run
Over £188,700* raised across all events and years.
Multiple sponsors, including Autotrader, Accenture and Mistral
Credit: Ed Hill (supplied)
In 2025, the 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness also successfully expanded to Sheffield and Hereford for the first time, as well as returning to Birmingham for its second year.
The event unites local running communities to support local organisations. Better still, in 2026, the event is expected to expand again; for instance, after a rescheduling, the event is heading over to Yorkshire once more for the inaugural edition of The Leeds 24 Hour Run in March 2026.
Reflecting on the event’s seventh year, The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness co-founder, Thomas Lewis, says: “Every year I think we’ve hit our peak in terms of fundraising and turnout, and every year we somehow manage to surpass it. I’m completely blown away by the support and dedication of the Manchester running community. Bring on next year.”
Fran Darlington-Pollock, the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity’s outgoing CEO, added: “We’re so proud to continue supporting this incredible event and all the hard work that goes into making it such a success year after year.
“The passion and dedication of the organisers, runners, and supporters are truly inspiring, and we’re so grateful for the funds raised, which help people experiencing homelessness through A Bed Every Night.”
Anyone still wanting to make a donation can do so by visiting The 24 Hour Run website and the attached JustGiving page HERE, which will remain open for a few weeks following the event.
There are plenty of other ways we can help fight homelessness throughout the year, and it’s by pursuing vital causes like this that we truly put the great in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester stadiums included in the bid to host the Women’s World Cup confirmed
Danny Jones
The locations for the official UK bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup have been revealed, along with the Greater Manchester football stadiums chosen for the honour.
Not exactly a ground-breaking spoiler, but the FA did make a somewhat curious choice when they shared the news.
In case you hadn’t heard the news earlier this year, our nation has officially thrown its hat into the ring for the Women’s World Cup (WWC) in 2035, with England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all set to offer up their arenas as part of the record-breaking proposal.
Naturally, a region as footy-obsessed as ours and with two of the biggest stadiums in the country was always going to be included, but as mentioned, there was a particular detail that lots of people quickly noticed following the announcement.
Yes, in a slightly bizarre but ultimately innocuous turn of events, Etihad Stadium – home of Manchester City FC – has been selected, as was the world-famous ‘Theatre of Dreams‘, the only difference being that it was listed separately from the city itself.
Instead, Man United’s iconic home turf, Old Trafford, has been listed as just that: in Trafford, specifically, as opposed to simply being listed in the same section as its sky blue counterpart.
Now, while it’s true that all 10 boroughs have their own identity, culture (not to mention some subscribing to still being part of Lancashire or even Cheshire), it did strike us and others as a bit odd to put that rather iconic and equally historic venue down as almost separate from the city.
Many would argue that one of the things Manchester is best known for around the globe is the team of Red Devils that play at that ground.
Naturally, ‘Cityzens‘ have had their fair share of fun with the post and, conversely, there’s been plenty of retorts regarding ‘supporters from Stockport’, as you would expect…
Nevertheless, we’re just glad to see the Etihad and Old Trafford continuing to cater to some of the biggest dates on the sporting calendar.
Some have actually argued that the region should have been given opportunities to host more stadiums and/or games as part of the market pitch, as the likes of both Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic’s stadiums were floated as viable or even better alternatives, capacity-wise.
Either way, with the 22 venues that have been selected for the UK’s bid for the 2035 Women’s World Cup and us Brits currently unopposed in the race to secure the tournament, the FA are going all-in for the 48-team competition, which would be “the biggest single-sport event ever staged in the UK.”
You can read more down below.
Our shared ambition: to host the largest single-sport event ever staged in the UK, and the first FIFA World Cup in this country since 1966.#AllTogetherpic.twitter.com/y6GOPEPDdG
The Manc -
30th November 2020 
