Heidi Mclean’s mother passed away at 54-years-old after losing her battle with breast cancer.

With a determination to help other sufferers, the personal trainer has now qualified as a specialised Cancerplus trainer — one of only 15 people in Scotland to hold the certificate.

The married mother-of-one told the Post: “I felt this was my way of giving something back, cancer affects one in three of us after all.

“Having a healthy lifestyle and diet is very important.

“If the client has had an operation, we want to get them moving again.

“It’s about improving the quality of life and making them as pain-free as possible.” Cancerplus exercise specialists are fitness professionals who are specifically trained to work with a cancer client.

The not-for-profit organisation aims to help sufferers back to health through teaching a healthy and active lifestyle.

Programmes aim to help patients maintain their physical abilities, improve their sense of balance and prevent muscles from wasting.

Other benefits of regular exercising during cancer include reducing the risk of heart disease, helping to control weight and improving self-esteem.

Patients’ personal situations are all taken into account when preparing an exercise programme. Regimes differ depending on sufferers’ type and stage of cancer, the treatment they are undergoing and their fitness level.

Heidi said: “Even being able to get about the house can be progress because it helps to improve someone’s quality of life.

“Exercising also helps remove the label of being a cancer patient.

“My mum found it hard because friends often didn’t know how to approach the topic of cancer with her.

“There was a real sense of isolation, a feeling which can be common among many people.

“She really benefited from exercising because it gave her the chance to mix with other people and be herself.” The 43-year-old added: “I would not only be a trainer, I would be looking to be someone’s friend — even if it was going for a coffee or going to the shop with them.” More information about the work of Cancerplus is available by logging on to the organisation’s website: www.cancerplus.org