A personal trainer from Fermanagh has won a prestigious accolade at Northern Ireland’s inaugural Health and Fitness Awards sponsored by Centra.

Terri McCanny from TMC Health and Fitness was named Breakthrough Personal Trainer of the Year sponsored by Gym Co.

The event was held in the Crowne Plaza Belfast and attended by 500 guests, celebrated the outstanding achievements of the local health and fitness industry, was presented by Strictly Come Dancing star and health and fitness advocate, Gemma Atkinson and Q Radio’s Ninja Warrior Ibe Sesay with entertainment from BBC’s The Blame Game funny man, Colin Murphy, and local singer Emma Horan.

There were 20 awards across 16 categories recognising the outstanding commitment and contribution from Northern Ireland’s top health and fitness individuals, companies and community engagement initiatives and were independently judged by a highly experienced panel from the health and fitness industry made up of former Ulster, Ireland and British Lions rugby star Stephen Ferris, Centra Ambassador and leading Northern Ireland nutritionist Jane McClenaghan, leading personal trainer Ian Young, fitness blogger Aly Harte and Sunday Life Editor Martin Breen.

Speaking about Terri, the judges said “she has done so much in just six months. A true breakthrough in the industry, Terri qualified in September 2017, and in March 2018 opened TMC Health and Fitness gym. We were impressed with her 160 members, six employees and fitness camps for all ages. She is truly fantastic.

Sarah Weir, Director of Weir Events and Creator of the Health & Fitness Awards said: “Congratulations to Terri McCanny for winning Breakthrough Personal Trainer of the Year at Northern Ireland’s inaugural Health and Fitness Awards sponsored by Centra. The awards have been created to celebrate the achievement and excellence of this incredibly hard-working industry. Despite it being the first year of the awards, we were overwhelmed by the amount and standard of entries received and the independent panel of judges had an extremely hard task of shortlisting. I would like to congratulate the finalists, highly commended and winners of each category, all of which should be very proud of the work they are doing and what they have all accomplished.”

Jennifer Morton, Centra Brand Manager added: “The Health and Fitness Awards sponsored by Centra are a fantastic way to recognise the hard work, passion and dedication of people in the health and fitness industry here. We were inundated with entries, and I know the judges were humbled by the stories they read from people dedicated to improving physical and mental health. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners. Keep up the great work you are doing.”

Individual category sponsors include Centra, PureGym, Linwoods Health Foods, Gym Co, Tony & Jen’s, Cathedral Eye Clinic, BPerfect Cosmetics, Crowne Plaza Belfast, Sparq and Mervyn Stewart Ltd. Media partners are Sunday Life and Q Radio.