A MUM who beat homelessness has turned her life around and is now offering classes to help people living with mobility problems.

Jane McClure’s life was changed forever when she and daughter Charli, 15, moved from Bristol to Braintree in 2014.

While unpacking their things Jane slipped on the stairs, rupturing her Achilles tendon which led to a rare transplant at Broomfield Hospital leaving her unable to walk for two years.

Jane had to spend five months bed-bound, unable to work as a carer, and a further year on crutches. Her landlord then sold the house she was renting – leaving them homeless.

Jane said: “We spent the next eight weeks in emergency housing until the council found us a Greenfields flat in Halstead.”

After moving to Whitehorse Avenue in Halstead, which Jane admits she had never even heard of, she went along to a seated exercise class after a leaflet was posted through her door.

“I heard story after story of the changes this class made to lives” she said.

After taking part in the classes for three to four months Jane had qualified to teach.

“I did it voluntarily for just over a year and a bit until I was mobile enough to look for work,” she said.

“I can’t do what I did before in care because I was on my feet all day.”

Jane was approached by Uttlesford Council, which was impressed with her caring and encouraging style, and wanted her to run her own class in Saffron Walden.

She then set up a class St Francis Church in Halstead.

She said: “People had a choice to go to the free classes but they chose to support me. We’re like a family.”

Jane now runs two classes in Halstead, one in Earls Colne and one in Saffron Walden, and has recently started a new class in Braintree at St Michael’s Church.

She said: “People never stop coming once they feel the benefits. It’s not like the gym. Literally once they have been for three to four weeks, the effects are life changing.

“People are able to put socks and shoes on again, walk up the stairs and look behind them.”

The classes involve exercises with resistance bands to help build strength for normal day-to-day tasks as well as “sit to stand” routines which can help when people are prone to falls.

Vicky Wrench, 58, has MS and has been attending the class in Halstead for a while.

She said the sit to stand exercises stopped her from falling when she was playing with her grandchildren.

“I was out with the grandchildren at the weekend and they wanted to play football,” she said.

“I didn’t realise the grass that was around my feet was that long and suddenly I felt sick because I realised I was going to fall.

“Normally I would have fallen and my son was coming towards me because he wanted to grab me.”

Luckily the exercises meant she managed to keep her balance.

Vicky’s mother Violet, 80, now goes to the classes with her daughter and says not only is it helpful but also incredibly social.

Jane added: “It’s a marvellous thing, people love it. We are living longer as a nation but not fuller and healthier. People come every week because it works.”

She still struggles with mobility herself, but says the aches and pains she has after a week of teaching is worth it.