NOIREFITFEST IS the UK’s first black fitness festival, that aims to give a platform of visibility and inclusivity to black fitness professionals; with the aim of encouraging the wider black community to make fitness and wellness part of their daily lives. It was created by Donna Noble and Lorraine Russell in response to the lack of representation and diversity in the fitness world.

The idea for the festival came about after Lorraine was chairing a panel called Black Women in Fitness, where women discussed their experiences concerning health and their experience with the mainstream fitness industry.

I reached out to Lorraine as it felt like an ideal opportunity for us to do a fitness event for our community.  That’s how Noirefitfest came into being.    

To be in a room full of black women was both novel and empowering with so much sharing and connection between everyone. Some of the topics covered would never have been discussed at a mainstream event.  

“Bells Palsy gave me the wake up call that I needed  – giving me the clarity to see that I was not happy in a stressful corporate job”

Donna Noble

It was such a great experience to be able to share our knowledge and experience with our community.  Instead of being in the minority, we were the majority and it felt comfortable to address health and wellbeing questions and concerns in a safe, judgement-free environment. It showed that representation does indeed matter and is important.  

If you don’t see someone who looks like you doing something, then you are not going to be curious or try it. Why would you?

There is an urgent physical need for fitness in our community, which is highlighted in Sport England’s Sport for All report. Only 56 per cent of black people achieve the 150 minutes of physical activity a week recommended by the chief medical officer, compared to 62 per cent of adults in England overall.

Benefits

We need to discover what is preventing black people from incorporating wellbeing as a lifestyle choice when there are numerous benefits.  There are many reasons why the update is low – affordability, lack of sufficient time and not understanding how fitness can help with health issues – stress, mental health and body image issues.    

That is why we are seeing the NHS starting to recommend “social prescribing”. 

Social prescribing is a system where healthcare professionals refer patients to local, non-clinical services to meet their wellbeing needs. Participating in activities like healthy eating advice and a range of health and fitness activities.  

My yoga journey started back in the last 1990s when a friend saw a picture of Madonna with her leg behind her head doing yoga and suggested we give it a try. I said ‘yes’, not knowing that it would be life changing and transformational.  

I am a certified yoga teacher and intuitive coach and body positive advocate. I creating Curvesome Yoga in 2015 to help to evolve the image of yoga to make it a more inclusive and accessible space. Showing that every body is a yoga body.    

About 15 years ago I suffered with Bells Palsy (facial paralysis on the left side of my face). It was yoga that helped me to heal both mentally and physically. It showed me what an amazing vessel the body is.

Bells Palsy gave me the wake up call that I needed  – giving me the clarity to see that I was not happy in a stressful corporate job. Giving me the courage to travel and teach in America for what was to be nine weeks but quickly became six months. It also showed me there was so much more to life than staying in a role where I was unhappy and had contributed to my condition.

This is why I am so passionate about sharing the healing benefits of yoga.  There are so my misconceptions about yoga, especially in our community.

Lorraine is a qualified personal trainer and nutritionist. She started her weight loss journey a few years ago. Dissatisfied with her life and overall health, she changed her entire lifestyle by becoming a fitness professional. 

Working within a corporate environment, Lorraine’s health and mental wellbeing suffered while being stuck in an office, doing a 9-5 job that she hated.

Already an active member of her gym for some years, this became as space of de-stressing the daily grind of her job. Seeing the results of her workouts, and receiving compliments, soon inspired her to take up a personal training course. 

Whilst working full-time, Lorraine studied and qualified as a nutritionist and personal trainer. She then left the security of her job, and immediately started working for a well-known gym, as well as securing numerous classes to teach at various gym and clubs around London.

Lorraine has since competed in two bodybuilding competitions, taken part in fitness events for charities like Tower 42 and the London-Brighton bike ride. She is continuing her journey by sharing her expertise and experience with others to help them discover a path to putting them on the right track to a healthier lifestyle. 

She runs her own personal training business, LALAWORKS, and is the co-founder of NoireFitFest.

Movement

During these unprecedented times, physical movement is essential and can help us to deal with we all going through so that we are in the best state possible to deal with all the current uncertainty. 

We are so excited about the festival; it will be a space where anyone from fitness virgin to fitness enthusiast can attend and discover fitness activities. 

The event will showcase a plethora of activities from spin dance to twerking classes. 

There will also be workshops, demonstrations, and panel discussions from so many experts. We have been inundated with requests from the fitness world to get involved.    

It’s going to be an amazing experience. Firing up the black community to get active. We can’t wait to launch this inaugural event.

In the meantime why not join us for yoga and fitness every Wednesday at 5pm and Saturday at 10am via The Voice Instagram. 

Find out more about Donna and Lorraine at on Instagram.