Celia fusing fitness with culture

Celia Collymore is on a drive to fuse fitness and culture to help create a healthy nation.
She is the project manager and team leader of a fitness movement called Bajan Fusion.  
Collymore, a former national basketball player who was awarded a basketball scholarship, organizes fun and interactive hiking and fitness sessions within communities.
“I am working with my network to create programmes so that we can not only bring fitness but also talk to the average Barbadian in communities to show them how they can make their food work for them,” Collymore told the MIDWEEK NATION.
“I got the idea while living in New York. This lady had a fitness movement and they were playing soca and calypso but they didn’t look like us,”?she added. “I said, ‘Wow these people are getting fit to our music’. That was refreshing.
“We tend to take a lot from the world so it was good to see somebody else taking what was ours and getting healthy and having fun. When I came back, I really pushed and talked to people about my idea to see who could support and help me fund the concept,” she said.
The attempt to secure financial backing was “hard” but, eventually, Collymore’s determination and adrenalin rush opened opportunities for her to network with small businesses.
“We are fusing fitness and we want you to try everything. We don’t want you to just say, ‘Let me do Zumba’. You need to try everything under the sun. For me, on a week to week basis, I do boot camp, I line dance and I go to the gym and I lift weights.”
She said Bajan Fusion was setting out to enhance the mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and financial aspects of Barbadians.
She said the entity hosted a fitness activity monthly in a selected parish.
“Every month there is something different to do around the island whether it is paint ball, hiking . . . . We want to target as many communities as possible. Hence why we do the month-to-month and go into different areas so the people can come out and enjoy our events.
“In January we did the bike tour; in February we were a part of the healthy lifestyle village at Girlfriend Expo, which was held in Christ Church. In April we are going to St Philip with the bike tour,” said the excited team leader.
And while Collymore is focused on the development of Bajan Fusion, she is also the senior partner of Artistik Flava, a human resource development company, where she is “actively transitioning clients to the next level of performance”.