Women in Chippenham who have got the fitness bug have helped raise money for our Help For Heroes Appeal.

The members of Curves, Chippenham’s women-only fitness centre, entered a December challenge for the charity in a bid to avoid piling on the pounds over Christmas.

They agreed that for every pound they gained over the festive month they would donate £1 towards the Help for Heroes cause.

They thought this would give them some incentive to stick to their weight loss and fitness goals Curves committed to donate £1 for every lb that the women managed to lose.

A total of 42 gym goers took part in the challenge and raised a total of £225.

The biggest weight loss was achieved by Pauline Cox who lost a total of 8lb in the month.

Mrs Cox said: “Entering the challenge gave me an added incentive to not over-indulge”.

She also matched the £8 donated by Curves to further boost the fund.

Ruth Green, who took over Curves Chippenham in August, said she knew the fundraising itself would be most important to the women, not any weight loss or gain.

She said: “The ladies who come to Curves are so friendly that I knew if I challenged them it had to be in a way that would benefit the charity whether they met the challenge or not.

A new Curves is about to be added to the gyms in Wiltshire when Devizes MP Claire Perry opens a centre in Pelhams Court, Marlborough at 10.45am on Monday.

The gym is being run by Roz Ambler, who already manages the Devizes branch.

Ms Ambler, who has taken on three new staff, said: “It is nice to be able to create some new jobs despite the recession.