Director / Owner
Warhorse Training
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Fitness trainer awarded for helping children with trauma
A Swindon wellness and personal fitness provider with an innovative way of helping children process difficult emotions has been named the best in the county.
Anton Wilkes runs sessions for children and adults at his Toothill home (Kirkstall Close), and started Warhorse Training in 2015 after having experience of supporting people in similar situations.
Distinguished Teaching awarded the business a certificate and trophy for providing the best wellness and personal fitness services in the town, beating out competition from other local start-ups around the county and even big chains like DW Fitness.
The qualified personal trainer, martial arts instructor, masseuse and hairdresser went full-time with the project in 2022 and runs it with three volunteers.
He estimates that he has helped thousands of people over the years, offering kickboxing, bodybuilding, weight loss and martial arts classes, but what helped his business stand out from the rest was an idea he calls child frustration intervention training, which has worked wonders.
He said: “Parents come to us with children who are self-harming or punching the walls and damaging things.
"Here they have an outlet to get it out of their system, which then helps them talk about what’s bothering them.
“Instead of playing with toys, they flip tyres and use weight training equipment, write words on plates and smash them, have Nerf gun fights, try kickboxing and karate – or they can hit me with foam baseball bats.
“It’s a very big passion of mine that’s close to my heart, I’m really proud of it.
"We love helping people and there’s nothing like helping a child and seeing that transformation take place, it’s so rewarding and transforms lives.
"I have a history of supporting people with these additional needs and a track record of improvement minimising eruptions and increasing communication.
“I’m delighted to win the award – when they came in to talk to me, I didn’t even realise that’s what it was for, I just gave them the full sales pitch as normal and then read about the award win afterwards.”
Along with the many children who have processed their emotions and opened up about difficult experiences, some Warhorse Training clients have entered kickboxing and bodybuilding competitions, improved their physical well-being, and soothed their fibromyalgia.
The award took into account positive reviews for the business and the activity on its social media pages.
He is also qualified to support individuals with additional needs or on the autism spectrum.
Anton added: “I just wanted to offer a hand of help if needed and a safe place for people to be.”