Thurrock residents, from eight to 80, are being encouraged to get interactive as Impulse Leisure takes ZigZag dance mats and Sportwalls out to the community.

The mobile gym is part of a larger scheme to tackle a number of health and social inequalities in the Thurrock area, which will see a dedicated youth interactive zone created at Blackshots Leisure Centre.

Impulse Leisure's Group Fitness Manager, Garry Tapsell, said: "We are consulting widely with our partners and young people to help us create a facility which best serves the community, and we expect our 21st century interactive fitness zone to be up and running by next summer. But we wanted to start using the ZigZag equipment right away so decided if the community can't come to us to use it, we would take the equipment out to the local community instead."

Impulse Leisure received £20,000 from Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation to buy 16 ZigZag dance mats to be used on various outreach projects and the new youth interactive zone, due to open in 2011.

Garry added: "We are very keen to engage with people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, so we thought why not take ZigZag's fun, interactive equipment to accessible locations in the heart of the community. We have had such a great response to the interactive equipment that we have funded two ZigZag Sportwalls to further our outreach work in the community."

One of Impulse Leisure's aims is to use ZigZag's interactive equipment to engage often hard to reach groups, including people living in socially deprived areas, and young people frequenting 'hotspot areas' of anti-social behaviour.

Thurrock residents have been enthusiastic about interactive fitness, according to Garry. He said: "At the community events there were queues of people waiting to try out the ZigZag dance mats and Sportwalls. We even had a headteacher challenging her pupils to beat her score on the Sportwall. She was pretty determined to win as she came back a couple of times to check her score hadn't been beaten!"

As well as taking the ZigZag equipment along to school events, shopping centres and group exercise classes, Impulse Leisure will be integrating the ZigZag equipment into existing programmes including MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do It!), and working with special needs groups including specialist schools, Thurrock Disabled Group, and the Thurrock Stroke Project.