Having a personal trainer at the gym used to be the exclusive preserve of the rich and famous, but now the NHS is deploying health trainers across the region to help ordinary people turn the health around. Health Editor Barry Nelson investigates how the scheme is working.

JOSIE is a shy, partly disabled woman who, by her own admission, has spent the last ten years of her life living a severely restricted existence. Overweight and lacking in confidence, she felt like a prisoner in her own home.

That was until NHS health trainer Elaine Glendenning knocked on her door.

Elaine is one of seven health trainers who began working in some of the most deprived areas of Newcastle earlier this year.

The trainers are drawn from local communities and are given basic training in nutrition, exercise and other aspects of healthy living, such as smoking cessation. Their job is to identify individuals and groups who might benefit from support and encourage them to improve their lifestyles.

Elaine answered the call in Newcastle and after a basic healthy living training course she began working in Cruddas Park, an area of the city she knows very well.

In line with the thinking behind the NHS healthy trainers scheme, Elaine used her knowledge of the area to network and meet people. Within a few weeks she had organised a walking group for local people called Stepping Out. A healthy living group for men and an arts and craft group followed.

Through her contacts, Elaine heard about Josie's plight.

A sufferer from ataxia, a little-known condition which affects the brain, Josie found it difficult to speak or walk easily. Elaine linked up with Josie and within a few months her progress was remarkable.

A few weeks ago Josie volunteered to speak at an event to launch NHS health trainers in Newcastle, which was attended by the woman in charge of the programme, Maggie Rae from the Department of Health.

Despite being in front of an audience of around 100 people, Josie was able to speak about her experiences.

"Before I met Elaine I had spent ten years stuck in the house. I hardly ever saw anyone and I couldn't get out and about," she says.

Through a question and answer session with Elaine it emerged that Josie had made a great deal of progress. After joining an exercise class and a swimming club, her confidence has grown in leaps and bounds.

Josie has also benefited from healthy eating advice, losing almost three stones since the summer.

"She now has much more confidence and gets about with a stroller walking aid. Really, she has had a new lease of life," says Elaine. "She really doesn't need me any more."

Josie is just the tip of the iceberg.

Since the health trainers programme was launched in Newcastle in April they have worked with more than 500 people in the most deprived parts of Newcastle. Seventy people have benefited from one-to-one support with specially tailored personal action plans

Anne Dymyd, coordinator for the Newcastle health trainers programme, said: "We have had a lot of positive feedback from clients.

"The trainers have given people lots of confidence in themselves, encouraging them to be more active, to lose weight and to stop smoking."

The scale of the problems facing health trainers can be gauged by some of the stories which have emerged.

In one case, a single mother in the East End of Newcastle approached health trainer Carol Wilson and asked about the best way to stop smoking. It soon became clear that smoking was just one of her problems.

"Her normal meal was always pie and chips. It was her only meal during the day. The rest of the time she snacked on biscuits," says Carol.

Carol explained to the woman the importance of eating a balanced diet including fresh fruit and vegetables.

"After a week she lost a pound in weight, then she told me she wanted to get fit. Instead of a cigarette, she had a cereal bar," she says.

Carol took her new client to the local leisure centre and introduced her to gym staff. She also arranged for her to join a smoking cessation group.

"She started off doing half an hour three times a week and this has gradually got longer and longer. She has also managed to cut down from 40 cigarettes a day to ten a day," she says.

Illustrating how the healthy trainers idea is meant to work, this single referral has led to a chain reaction. "Her auntie and her mum contacted me and they wanted help to get more healthy as well," says Carol, who is thrilled at the progress made by her client.

"This lady has achieved so much. She has lost more than a stone along with 14 inches of body fat. I am really proud to have worked with this lady," she says.

One of the most alarming case studies involved a woman from one of Newcastle's ethnic minorities.

Safia Ahmed, a health trainer who runs a multi-ethnic women's group in Arthur's Hill, was introduced to a woman in her 50s who was suffering poor health.

It turned out that she had been diagnosed with diabetes eight years previously, but because of language difficulties she had never been given any information about the kind of diet she should follow.

"I was able to give her nutritional advice. She now eats more vegetables, plenty of fresh fruit and drinks lots of water. She has cut down on fat altogether and now joins regular organised walks," says Safia.

"She lost eight pounds in eight weeks and her diabetes symptoms lessened. She says she has more energy and her confident has increased."

Other clients have joined exercise-to-music sessions organised by the health trainers.

One client called Anne says: "If someone had said to me last year, 'you will join a gym and lose two stones and have an aromatherapy massage,' I would have thought they had lost their minds."

Another scheme operating in North-West Newcastle involves teaching parents how to talk to their children about issues such as sex and relationships. Often clients bring up other issues such as healthy living and can be put in touch with gyms or Sure Start organised cookery classes.

Apart from Newcastle, similar health trainer schemes are now operating in Sunderland, Durham, Chester-le-Street and South Tyneside.

Karen Smith, who co-ordinates the health trainers scheme in Easington, says her team is working with 30 clients and has completed work with 13 people who have achieved the goals they set for themselves.

A particular emphasis in Easington is working with male clients, who are often less likely to seek medical advice than women.

One male client says: "I am now eating a good healthy diet and have lost nine pounds in weight... yippee!"

Maggie Rae, a senior official with the Department of Health who heads the task force set up to reduce health inequalities, attended the launch event earlier this year and said the health trainer recruitment campaign had had a "fabulous" response and was on track to help thousands of people live more healthy lives.

If the trainers are anything like Carol Wilson they are enjoying every minute.

"I love it. I am so passionate about my job," says Carol.