Brown Pride: the Pacific-owned gym keeping South Auckland in shape ^Featured

More than a hundred keen punters came through his doors every day until the country entered strict lockdown in August.

"Just the amount of traffic we had coming through was heaps," Timu said. "One day was 112 people and that was like a quiet day."

"And now when we were doing Zoom [classes] when we first went into lockdown - the most I had on Zoom was 12, 12 or 11 people."

"So it was a massive drop and for a business owner, and just for a person in general, it was disheartening and it was depressing."

Businesses in New Zealand are eligible for the government's wage subsidy and resurgence support payments. But Timu said attaining financial help though is a drawn out process for not much help at all.

"I know it's like hard out promoted and people think 'oh yeah, businesses must get heaps of support'," he said. "Yeah it's available but for a newbie like us, I'm only 25 and I wouldn't know the ropes of how to do all that."

"They keep saying there's support people you can contact, but you contact those people and they send you to someone else and they send you to someone else."

The supports are only enough to pay things like the power bill, Timu said.

The six men who founded Brown Pride at the opening of their gym, including Johnnie Timu (third from right). Photo: Supplied / Brown Pride

Community outbreaks of Covid-19 in Auckland and Waikato have changed the way people can keep fit.

Outdoor organised exercise classes, like yoga and bootcamps, can expand to 25 people, including instructors. Physical distancing of 2 metres is strongly encouraged.

These restrictions will remain in place until 90 percent of residents are double vaccinated.

Back at Brown Pride, Timu said he misses the family mentality created the members who get their sweat on together.

Gym members are coming back in droves, Timu said.

"I can see a consistency getting back into training," he said.

"It's like a safe space I guess to come chuck away any stresses that you may have at work, or at home - even if it's an hour - especially if you're working at home."

"As much as it's annoying, I'm grateful it's something and I'm sure our members are grateful as well."

Brown Pride teaming up with local charity Sunday Blessings to run pop-up soup kitchens in Auckland City. Photo: Supplied / Brown Pride

Brown Pride not only operates as a gym, but a barbershop, a music label and a youth support group.

Timu said the humble beginnings of his social enterprise empire grew out of a burning community love.

"We ain't got any diplomas or degrees or anything," he said. "We're just a bunch of mates who grew up together from primary days, and some of us are cousins."

"Four or five years ago, just at a random drink-up on a Friday after work - we all hated our 9 to 5 buzz and just doing that, coming home, waiting for the weekend, partying.

"I feel like fitness and making people feel good was something we were good at."

The gym has experienced three lockdowns, including NZ's first after Brown Pride opened in March 2020. Photo: Supplied / Brown Pride

It's not without bumps on the road... the gym was run out of a school basketball court for a time.

Two weeks after opening up their own digs last March, New Zealand entered it's first nationwide lockdown.

"It's sort of ironic, we got the [lockdown] announcement when the gym was full packed," Timu said.

"But this end of the year is the most busy for gyms, especially when it's peaking towards summertime and the end of year when everyone wants to get in shape."

Brown Pride's round 9 'Summer Grind' bootcamp runs rain or shine, virus or not, until just before Christmas.

- RNZI