Celebrating the Official Opening of Our First Local Leisure Hub

This month has seen the official opening of a brand new, £9 million Health Hub in Nottinghamshire.

Based on Sport England’s Leisure Local model, the new community provision delivers a host of leisure facilities designed to bring new active living opportunities to the whole community.

“I am thrilled that we are finally at the opening event for Warsop Health Hub, months ahead of schedule,” Andy Abrahams, Executive Mayor for Mansfield, said. “In the last year, it has been a dream come true to see such progress being made to bring a community facility to the people of Warsop.

“It has been a labour of love and wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment from fellow councillors, officers, funding partners, and, of course, the parish residents. Based on Sport England’s innovative Leisure Local model, the new hub houses a diverse range of facilities including a 15m x 8m swimming pool with a splash play area for younger children, a gym featuring the latest cardiovascular and resistance equipment, a two-court sports hall and an improved multi-use games area. The facility will also a reception area and community facilities, including multi-purpose spaces and an IT suite.

“Accessibility has been a consideration throughout the build. For example, the swimming pool incorporates a pool hoist as well as a changing village and an accessible Changing Places area to ensure as many people as possible can benefit from this investment. I look forward to seeing the community embrace the new facility and make the most of all the opportunities it will bring in terms of employment, aspiration, and health and wellbeing.”

Funded via a mix of Sport England investment, Towns Fund and borrowing by Mansfield District Council, Warsop Health Hub has been delivered by leisure development specialist Alliance Leisure, in partnership with Abacus as project manager and principal designer, architects Roberts Limbrick, lead contractor Pellikaan, and consultants Strategic Leisure.  The UK Leisure Framework, which is managed by Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL), has been used as the procurement route for sourcing the development team.

Gareth Liversedge, Business Development Manager at Alliance Leisure, comments:

We have brought together leisure experts at every level of the supply chain to design and deliver a facility that truly reflects the needs of the local community and has the capability to deliver commercial as well as a social value. We have also integrated energy saving technologies including air source heat pumps and solar panels to drive energy efficiencies and future proof the building to be enjoyed by many generations to come.

This project is a great example of how to deliver a Sport England Leisure Local concept, with development works completing in under 12months.

Gert-Jan Peeters, director, Pellikaan, says:

It is great to see the centre open to the public after having worked on it for the past year. The process has been very smooth, which is due to the great communication between the many parties involved in the project. Whether client, consultant or subcontractor, everybody was geared towards delivering a great centre for the people in Warsop. We enjoyed working on the project, and are very pleased to see the people enjoying the use of the centre!

Warsop Health Hub opened its doors to the public on June 1, 2024 and is being managed by Serco Leisure on behalf of Mansfield District Council. July 18, 2024 saw the Mayor, community champion Graham Hall MBE and Lord Lieutenant for Nottinghamshire Professor Veronica Pickering meet with development partners and other local dignitaries in an official ribbon cutting ceremony on site.