Josh Coy’s smile says it all. He has completed his weight lifting session with hero personal trainer Javeno McLean and could not be happier.
For Javeno is the miracle worker who gets Josh, who has cerebral palsy, standing on his own two feet.
And as Javeno helps him up, Josh, 26, tells us: “I never thought I would get up out of my wheelchair.”
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Javeno, 38, has been dubbed the “good will personal trainer” because he refuses to charge his elderly, disabled, or terminally ill customers, the Mirror reports.
He said: “I’ve been training people for 21 years, but I’ve never taken a penny from anybody special, with a disability, stroke, cancer, Parkinson’s, elderly people. I’m very proud of that.”
All he asks of those who walk into his J7 Health Centre in Blackley, Manchester, is a chance to prove he can make them laugh before their session is up.
Javeno insists his centre is more than a “gym”. He said: “The word ‘gym’ is so intimidating. It should be a beautiful place where you walk in where there’s love and energy and people of different ages and abilities getting on.
“It could be a professional athlete, someone with Down’s, it could be your aunt or uncle with cancer, someone who has had a stroke or dementia, that was the vision from day one and it’s turned into a worldwide movement. I can’t believe it. I’m so humbled.
Javeno ran council classes before setting up J7 five years ago. He now has more than 550,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram and has claimed two world records for the biggest exercise classes for people with disabilities.
On Friday afternoons, Javeno runs a session just for older clients. Margaret Savage, 82, was encouraged to join by Javeno’s own mum after losing her husband, Kenneth, 82, to Covid in 2020. Margaret said: “It’s been a huge source of companionship and friendship. They are such a friendly, lovely bunch of people and we always have a laugh.”
Others have joined to lose weight. Ten years ago, Brenda Simpson, 76, weighed 19st 1lb, but as she puts a weight on the squat bar, she tells us she is now 10st 12lbs. She said: “It has completely transformed my life. I think I’m the fittest I’ve ever been.”
Brenda does 10,000 steps a day and even competed in a charity boxing match. She said: “I never thought I’d do that. I would never have dreamt that I would be lifting weights and boxing.
“People are amazed when I tell them.”
Javeno runs another class for younger clients with different abilities. Until six months ago, Aimee Hodgkiss, 25, who has cerebral palsy and suffered depression, spent most of her time in bed.
She said: “Javeno has literally changed my life. I never thought I’d be as mentally and physically strong as I am now. When you go into his classes it’s the best feeling. He looks at you like you’re a normal person without a wheelchair.
“He makes you believe in yourself and doesn’t let you believe anything other than, ‘I can do it and it is possible’.”
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