Meet the team
EQ have an outstanding team who are dedicated, highly qualified and are committed to making your stay with us one of the most memorable and fulfilling things you have ever done.
Alex Brounger – Managing Director
Alex's primary focus is to make sure you have everything you need during your stay at the Retreat. Nothing is too much trouble. Open and amenable Alex, like many others, finds it hard to resist good food, but manages to keep the weight off through his love of exercise. A keen gym goer Alex has satisfied his competitive nature in recent years by running half marathons and competing in Adventure Races and Triathlons. A former Learning and Development Consultant, before focusing on managing client relationships, Alex is a real people person who has a passion for personal growth and development.
Married and with two children Alex understands how difficult it can be to lead a healthy lifestyle whilst trying to balance work and family commitments. A chartered member of the CIPD Alex’s simple motto is "never stop trying to be better".
Gareth Snelson
Gareth is not the sort of trainer who screams and shouts at you to do more things faster and with heavier weights. With a mild mannered approach Gareth encourages the use of the correct technique to ensure that you get the maximum results from the right level of effort whilst ensuring the chance of injury (and next day soreness) remains as low as possible. An exponent of MAT (Muscle Activation Techniques), Gareth strongly believes that exercise is not about pain but about gradual and sustained improvements. Gareth has been a Personal Trainer for nearly a decade and fully understands the challenges people face in achieving their fitness goals whilst working in demanding and stressful environments. A real favourite amongst our guests, more than one group have nicknamed Gareth the “Pocket Rocket”.
Jill Gardner
Jill uses the latest findings in endocrinology, psychology, strength and conditioning, and holistic medicine to transform people’s bodies and help them change their lives. Usually known as the person delivering nutritional information and advice on our courses Jill has often enraptured our groups with her up to date knowledge on nutrition and the often surprising impact it has on our bodies (its not always as simple as calories in calories out!) She says: "I like to think of myself as a 'Metabolic Engineer': Guiding men and women to achieve a fitter, firmer and happier way of life. My chief aim is to help stop people from eating stupid and start to look after themselves... after all where else will we live?”
For more information goto: http://www.hateitchangeit.co.uk
Teresa Wheatley
A true fitness professional in every sense of the word, Teresa has over 20 years experience of teaching all aspects of fitness. Teresa works very hard to put the fun, motivation and inspiration back into achieving your fitness and health goals. A qualified Pilates instructor, Teresa takes her job seriously and prides herself on combining energy, enthusiasm, experience and expertise, all rolled into one. Teresa is the founder of the aptly named Inspire Fitness.
For more information go to: http://www.inspiremyfitness.co.uk
Kerry Evans – Chef and Nutritionist
Kerry is a friendly, approachable and enthusiastic chef and naturopathic nutritionist who would love to share her knowledge of tasty, healthy food with you. Her aim at the retreat is to help you reach your long term health, fitness and weight loss goals. Kerry believes that a well balanced diet is the key to long term health. But just like you she loves tasty food and so has worked to combine health with maximum taste. She does not want to be consigned to a life of eating bland food that leaves you feeling increasingly uninspired by the idea of the next meal, and so will not put you through that either.
Kerry worked as a chef for many years on luxury yachts sailing around the globe. Her experience of cooking many different types of cuisine, exploring local markets for new and exciting ingredients and catering to wide variety of tastes and dietary requirements has meant she is adept at creating dishes to suit every palate and situation. For the last 3 years Kerry has been studying nutrition at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM). During this time she has learnt the magical properties of many foods and how food can be positively good for you. Kerry uses this knowledge and experience to cook food that tastes fabulous, helps to increase your natural energy levels, encourages weight loss and reduces the risks of serious disease. All whilst making you look and feel great.
Kerry will deliver nutritional workshops during your retreat exposing myths and covering all the basics of nutrition along with many easy to follow tips on how to improve your diet and health. Following a strict "practice what you preach" ethos Kerry will be cooking wonderfully tasty and healthy food for you to enjoy. The kitchen will be open for you to come and learn any recipes you may wish to master and so you can see just how easy cooking great tasting, healthy food can be! Any questions just ask.
Layne Manley – Personal Trainer
Layne moved back to the UK in 2004. Always into various sports but having a real passion for rugby, Layne played at a highly competitive level back in South Africa. After a serious arm injury in 2002 and being out of action for almost 2 years, Layne decided to get back into shape and joined the Cheltenham Tigers where he’s have been playing 1st team rugby since Jan 2004. Layne understands from firsthand experience how difficult it can be to lose a significant amount of weight. During his time off from the game of rugby he had blossomed into a very heavy 125kg centre. Through education and hard work he lost 35kg's (5½ stone) over a period of 3 years. It was during this 3 year period that Layne regained his passion for health and fitness and decided to pursue a career in the industry.
Having worked in the engineering industry for 10 years, Layne put himself through the level 3 personal trainer diploma offered by the European institute of Fitness in Javea, Spain. Committed to ongoing professional and personal development Layne has since completed additional courses and certifications including; weight management, indoor group cycling, circuit training, functional training and First Aid.
Based in Cheltenham Layne continues to run a successful personal training business with close relationships with one of the largest gym chains in the country. Layne enjoys nothing better than to use his personal experience and knowledge to help people achieve their own personal fitness improvement and weight loss goals and encouraging them to experience the same feeling he had when he achieved his own considerable weight loss.
Layne likes a challenge and lives by his motto "you have to challenge yourself to change yourself".
Tom Jolly (TJ) – Personal Trainer
Having spent most of his life taking part in as many different types of physical activity as possible, TJ decided on a career change which led him to become a fully qualified Personal Trainer. With a past in the Corporate Recruitment environment TJ understands how difficult it can be to stay committed to a healthy diet and challenging fitness and weight management goals, whilst having to work long and stressful hours in the office. During his time as a Qualified Instructor he has coached a variety of activities to a broad range of people. Amongst other things TJ has designed and implemented fitness programmes for children, men’s football teams and ladies’ netball teams. This has given him a broad range of knowledge and experience which allows him to adjust his training techniques to suit any audience.
TJ likes to practise what he preaches and his main interests are Mountain Biking and training in the gym. He specialises in muscle endurance to allow clients to compete to their very best within in their chosen sports. Above all else TJ enjoys nothing more than encouraging his clients to train and remain active so they can lead the life they wish to lead, whether their goal is more energy for work, a better sleep pattern, weight loss or a new challenge. TJ looks forward to welcoming you onto one of EQ’s Retreats.
Fiona Barnes - Holistic Practitioner
Fiona has been working as a holistic practitioner for over 7 years and has a unique style of massage which incorporates holistic massage, clinical aromatherapy, deep tissue, pulsing and stretching techniques, combined with Reiki. She also works along energy lines and with acupressure points. Within the nature of her work is the ethos that each and every one of us is unique and our needs are never going to be the same as the next person or even within ourselves, from day-to-day... She is a great advocator for believing in the body’s innate wisdom and ability to heal itself, as well as the power of natural medicine. When balanced we feel energetic, centred and stable, able to live life with enthusiasm coping well with stress and the odd curve ball that heads our way! She firmly believes that we are responsible as individuals for our own well being, which embraces both our internal and external environment. How we affect this environment defines our tomorrow.
Fiona enjoys a busy private practice in London and is a fully qualified member of the IFPA a professional body that recognises Aromatherapists who have undertaken training to the highest standards and adheres to a strict code of ethics to ensure that optimum standards of professional integrity, confidentiality and health care are maintained at all times.
Andy Green - Acupuncturist and Shiatsu Massage Therapist
Andy Green is a fully qualified acupuncturist and shiatsu massage therapist. He is a member of the British Acupuncture Council. Andy first became interested in oriental culture when he took up martial arts at age 13. Later in life this interest led him to train in Shiatsu, the Japanese style of therapeutic massage and bodywork. After three years of training he attained a Licentiate Diploma in 2002 and established a busy professional practice, working alongside Osteopaths and Massage Therapists.
His drive to deepen his understanding of the theoretical roots of Shiatsu led him to embark on a Bachelor of Science Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). After three years further study at the London College of Traditional Acupuncture, he qualified as an acupuncturist in 2006.
Today he works in private practice in Bath and Chippenham, as well as providing shiatsu and acupuncture on health retreats in the area. He combines both styles of oriental medicine into his daily practice, offering effective treatment for a diverse range of conditions, delivering subtle but powerful techniques, drawn from thousands of years of oriental tradition and firmly based on modern medical knowledge. You can learn more about Andy and his practice here: www.oldfieldosteopaths.com/practitioners/shiatsu-acupuncture-andy-green
For the benefit of all our guests places are strictly limited so please call Alex Brounger now on 0843 289 1660 to secure your place or for further information.