Madeline Hughes

Welcome to the GoFundMe page for Madeline Hughes. This page has been set up in loving memory and in honour of our beautiful Maddy.

Maddy sadly passed away under tragic circumstances on 22nd April 2023 but her legacy will live on through her family, friends, clients, and of course her Frenchies.

We felt that this would be a way in which we could all recognise, remember, and celebrate her life, as she touched the lives of so many.

Hailing from Oz, Maddy came to the UK in 2011 and began work as a personal trainer. Maddy was a natural; her vivacious personality and no-nonsense approach were the trick to success making her extremely popular. But Maddy wasn’t just a PT, she threw herself passionately into her work, had a natural ability to understand people and what their priorities were, and how to help them reach all their goals - not just fitness ones, but life ones too. She has transformed so many lives over the years and formed lifelong connections with so many people.

The pandemic was a prime example of how Maddy conducted herself. Knowing that she would be unable to train people in the gym for some time, she moved to Zoom PT sessions with clients, lifting plant pots as substitute weights in their own gardens! Later she even opened up her own garden to outdoor step classes. Her tenacity and resilience gave so much encouragement and support to her clients and friends through this difficult time, which spurred her on to eventually open her own private purpose-built gym in her garden and Maddy Hughes PT HQ was born.

Maddy started training her clients from home, and the MHPT HQ became a sanctuary to the holistic service she offered: it wasn’t just about the exercise, but the nutrition, sleep, mindset; Maddy helped nurture her clients every step of the way - why so many of them stayed on and became good friends- she had indeed created her own community.

This was not the only community that Maddy built- her love for French bulldogs through having Tilly, then Django (RIP) and little Pudding, she set up the French Bulldog Society of South Manchester, which became known as “Frenchie Sundays”, where dog owners from around the area would meet up, usually in Fog Lane park for a dog walk. Incredibly, there are over 800 people in this group- another shining example of Maddy’s sparkly determination when she set her mind to something.

Maddy loved to have goals; even as a child, she competed in dance, gymnastics, and netball. Always at a high standard and wanting to be the best. She was a loving daughter, sister and aunty. Family was everything to Maddy, as she made her own family here in the UK. As an adult she competed in CrossFit competitions, trained for charity boxing matches, National bodybuilding competitions and eventually found her love for yoga and completed her yoga teacher training in Bali last year.

Over the past year as Maddy became unwell, she would never falter in her determination to get better. The way she had lived her whole life, she knew no other way than to fight and become the best person she could be. It is therefore with such heavy hearts we find ourselves here today. Maddy did absolutely everything she could to get better and showed enormous strength in the face of adversity. We would like therefore to offer support to a charitable organisation that helps young people with mental health struggles, since they are so desperately underfunded and to encourage young people to come forward and talk to someone to get help, as Maddy did. We also feel that Maddy would love to continue to support French bulldogs and therefore we will also make a donation to a French bulldog rescue charity.

We know Maddy would also want to give her nieces and nephew the best start in life and so some of the funds raised will form part of a Trust fund for their future.

In addition to this, some of the funds raised will be used by Maddy's family to organise two celebrations of Maddy's life, the first being a funeral in Manchester on 23rd May 2023 and the second in Australia at a later date.

People who had the briefest of encounters with Maddy still feel this loss because she was so special; once met, never forgotten is how we will think of her.

Maddy, you will always be the brightest star in the sky, now and always.

Thank you for taking the time to read Maddy’s story.

With love from Maddy’s family and friends.