Shrewsbury Town legend Mickey Brown has signed up for an innovative fitness campaign which aims to inspire local people to lead more active lives.

A prize fund of £5,000 is up for grabs as part of #myShrewsburyMoves, which has been introduced by The Shrewsbury Club, a family orientated health club and tennis centre on Sundorne Road. 

The campaign encourages Shrewsbury residents to think more about the benefits of exercise, health and fitness.

Although spearheaded by The Shrewsbury Club, it is open to all clubs, gyms and exercise venues in the area.

Mr Brown, who played a club record 418 Football League games in three spells with Shrewsbury Town and is now a personal trainer, was quick to sign up and hopes lots more people will join him.

He said: “We’ve all over indulged a little bit over the Christmas period and a lot of people make decisions in the new year to prioritise their body and their wellbeing.

“This campaign pushes that a little bit further and encourages people to get to the gym, to move around a little bit more and eat a little more healthily. I’m delighted to be involved." 

Cash prizes are on offer to serve as extra motivation, with £1,000 going to the most active local workplace, the company which encourages, in the opinion of the judges, its employees to be most active.

There is £1,000 for the winner of I Moved to Shrewsbury, which means each time a participant earns 1,300 MyZone Effort Points (MEPs) they will be rewarded with an entry to an end of event draw when a winner will be selected at random.

Schools are encouraged to get involved and £1,000 each will be presented to both the local primary and secondary school which gets the vote of the judges as doing most to engage its pupils, teachers and parents in the campaign. 

The prize fund also includes £500 apiece for the most active local family and also the most inspiring Salopian, whose story is deemed by the judges to be the most inspirational. 

The campaign, which was launched last week and runs until March 19, is based on participiants using MyZone's wearable technology, which monitors activity levels based on an individual's heart rate against criteria including age, weight and gender.  

Alvin Ward, the general manager of The Shrewsbury Club, said: “By using wearable technology, it means participants can carry out their activity anywhere and that they do not need to pay extra to use any facilities or to join a health club.

"Simply by owning a MyZone belt and exercising, anyone will be able to win cash and take part in a Shrewsbury and Shropshire initiative to hopefully help transform the region into one of the fittest in the country." 

People keen to sign up for #myShrewsburyMoves can purchase MyZone devices at a short-term discount through The Shrewsbury Club. The belts normally cost £150 but will be reduced for this campaign to a special cost of £59. 

Participants, who will also receive a welcome pack, can choose to keep the MyZone belt at no additional cost or they can return it at the end of the campaign and receive a £49 refund, which means the cost of taking part in #myShrewsburyMoves would be just £10.

Mr Ward added: "By buying a belt through this channel, people will be automatically registered for the campaign, but if you want the MyZone Effort Points to count for your business or school as part of the competition they will need to sign up online to that team. 

"Every exercise session people do between January 16 and March 19, no matter where they choose to do it, will earn points that, in turn, will qualify for a chance to win cash prizes to be awarded at a closing ceremony in March.”  

To sign up for the campaign, visit http://www.myshrewsburymoves.co.uk/ while more details are available by contacting The Shrewsbury Club on (01743) 467755.