Horsham Rural City Council community recovery officer Sally Pymer said the fitness sessions were free for participants and funded by fire recovery money.

‘‘The sessions are for anyone in the fire affected area,’’ she said.

‘‘They offer a good opportunity for residents to meet some new people, get a bit of a workout and have some fun.’’

Ms Pymer said council asked residents to list activities they would like the fire recovery funding to go towards.

‘‘Quite a few people – particularly young mums with children at school – said they would like to do some sort of exercise program, but were not able to get to the gym,’’ she said.

‘‘We decided to run these sessions and they’ve been really popular.

‘‘We have had mostly women, but men are also encouraged to attend.’’

Ms Pymer said the work-outs were led by personal trainer Sarah Florence.

‘‘They have had between six and 12 people each session, depending on harvest,’’ she said.

‘‘People come when they can. They are not locked into weekly sessions.’’

Ms Pymer said the classes ran during the fourth term of 2014 and stopped throughout the Christmas and New Year period.

They will resume at the Laharum Hall on Mondays at 9.15am from February 9.

Laharum resident Raquel Tyler said she was looking forward to the sessions restarting.

‘‘They have been a great motivator,’’ she said.

‘‘Sarah has been really good. She has been given a range of ages and fitness levels and has adapted the workouts to suit everyone.

‘‘Although the fitness side is good, I’ve also met a couple of people from the community I didn’t know before.’’

Ms Pymer said council was looking at ways to continue the classes once funding ran out.