Eastbourne PE teacher and Instepp inventor raises money for cancer charities

Julie Ford invented Instepp, a neoprene contraption which allows people to increase their fitness levels and tone up while walking.

Julie is 65 but says she refuses to retire. Having suffered with cancer herself, she is committed to raising money for charity while using Instepp. During lockdown she managed to raise £800 for charity and has plans to go further in the future.

She said: “I was supposed to be doing a walk from Brighton to Eastbourne but that couldn’t go ahead due to the Covid-19 crisis.

“Instead I decided to walk the distance over ten days. So I am doing 2.6miles a day.”

Julie is also holding a Macmillan Coffee Morning for the cause which is so close to her heart.

Julie’s long-term plan is to cover 1,000 miles in a year. She launched the challenge in July this year for Hope for Tomorrow, to provide mobile chemotherapy units.

She said: “It is obviously a charity that it very close to my heart and I want to raise as much as I can for them”

Lockdown proved to be a difficult time for many, as gyms closed and restrictions on how often we were allowed to leave our homes, many struggled to keep fit.

But Joe Wicks was not the only one on hand to help, Julie also took to social media to advise people on how to keep moving, healthy and happy.

She said: “I did some Instagram posts and videos for the home workers to prevent DVT and I also did videos about Instepp and how people could get the best out of their daily hour-long exercise.”

After undergoing surgery and radiotherapy to beat breast cancer in 2011, Julie began to come up with the idea of Instepp. At this time she’d had enough of gym training.

Health and fitness have always been at the centre of Julie’s life. She has worked as PE teacher at the Tideway School in Newhaven, at Bede’s and latterly Eastbourne College.

She said, “From teaching physical education in schools, to personal training across all ages from 18 to 80.

“I have explored and embraced every innovative idea, trend and fad.

“I also try to keep abreast of the latest scientific research.”