Portfolios Archive - Page 5 of 6

Blog Archives

Pembrey Country Park

In 2017, Carmarthenshire County Council tasked Alliance Leisure, via the UK Leisure Framework, to design and build a 400 square foot visitor centre, function room and café. Works got underway in February and were completed in 21 weeks, ready for the summer season.

This project was part of the ongoing master plan of Pembrey Country Park

Following the £1.4 million investment Carmarthenshire County Council celebrated a bumper summer at Pembrey Country Park

“Pembrey Country Park has always been one of Wales’ top visitor attractions but this summer has been extraordinary in terms of the number of visitors and income generated,” explains Neil Thomas Senior Outdoor Recreation Manager. “Over the summer holidays we have experienced a 10% per cent increase in footfall and a 15% uplift in revenue on last year. There is little doubt that our success is due to the improvements we have made to our facilities.

“The natural beauty of the park, with its 500 acres of woodland and eight miles of golden sands has always attracted visitors but we felt we were not supporting the natural beauty with fit for purpose amenities. For example, we offered limited on site catering provision, in particular for the large numbers of guests staying on our caravan site. We were missing a trick from a customer experience and revenue generation point of venue.”

Our brief was to design and build facilities which would enhance the member experience and provide opportunities to generate new incomes, creating a sustainable future for the Park.

“The first two months of operation suggest that working in close partnership with the council, we have delivered on both counts. Pembrey County Park is an area of natural beauty and now provides visitors with the infra structure they need to fully enjoy all the activities on offer from dry slope skiing and crazy golf to adventure play, horse riding, camping and nature trails.

Gillian Dunster

Business Development Manager, Alliance Leisure Services

We took the decision to manage the café in house rather than rent the space to a third party. This has been a great decision. During July and August we served more than 50,000 customers.

The function room has also been popular. So far, we have hosted children’s parties, corporate events and even have our first wedding booked for 2020. The space occupies 60 square feet and is extremely versatile, offering direct access to outside, the café and the restrooms.

Neil Thomas

Senior Outdoor Recreation Manager

InspireAll – Bushey Grove and Furzefield Leisure Centres

Hertsmere Leisure

More people in Hertsmere are experiencing the benefits of health and fitness facilities thanks to the £4.5 million refurbishment of Bushey Grove and Furzefield Leisure Centres delivered by Alliance Leisure.

Working in partnership with charitable Trust, InspireAll (formerly Hertsmere Leisure), who manage the sites on behalf of Hertsmere Borough Council, Alliance kept the doors of both centres open, ensuring business as usual throughout the nine-month project. Alliance engaged with Createability to deliver the build works as part of the package

At Bushey Grove Leisure Centre, a mezzanine floor above the reception has added an impressive 7,800 sq ft to the gym and enabled the incorporation of a large, functional training space. A dedicated group cycle studio, hosting the latest Stages Flight cycles and a giant virtual experience screen, has also been added to enable the facility to offer round-the-clock classes.

Bushey Grove’s tired health suite has been remodeled to create a day-spa with its own reception and four treatment rooms. Visitors can enjoy an ice fountain, heated benches and bucket showers or can simply chill out in the new relaxation area, herbal sauna or aroma steam rooms. Changing areas have been renovated to ensure a luxury experience from start to finish.

Elsewhere, dry side changing rooms and the old creche have been converted into a cafe, new bathrooms, a staff room and a new creche. The old staff room is now a large party room with a folding acoustic wall that can open up to provide further cafe seating when necessary.

To complete the works, Bushey Grove’s swimming pool changing village has been lightly refurbished and features InspireAll’s branding and colours in keeping with the rest of the upgraded centre.

Furzefield Leisure Centre has also undergone major refurbishment. The centre’s tiny 6,900 sq ft soft play area has been transformed into party rooms and two of the existing sevencourt sports hall have been converted into a massive Soft Play and ‘XHeight’ Adventure Climbing facility suitable for all ages, with dedicated lobby, cafe and toilets.

As with Bushey Grove, the existing spa area has been remodeled to create a day spa with its own reception and four treatment rooms, reconfigured from a current studio. The spa includes: a relaxation area, salt inhalation room, ice fountain, feature shower, herbal sauna and aroma steam, as well as a bespoke, dedicated spa-specific changing area.

Like sister site Bushy Grove, Furzefield’s gym now offers a fully equipped functional training area as well as new equipment, including the Technogym SKILL range, including SKILLROW™, the SKILLMILL™ and the new SKILLRUN™ plus the latest connected equipment from Matrix. New vibrant wall graphics have also been added to help motivate customers to achieve new goals.

It also features an impressive immersive cycle studio hosting a full complement of Stages Flight cycles and a giant virtual experience screen.

The reception, back office and sales department have all received a cosmetic upgrade to ensure all areas reflect the InspireAll brand, along with new Paddy & Scott’s branded café’s.

Our brief was to design and carry out works that would improve the sustainability of the centres through the provision of services and facilities which match the evolving needs of the whole community and the creation of new revenue generating opportunities. I am pleased to say that the finished works tick both boxes at both sites. Furzefield is a busy site but it had grown tired and was struggling to cater keep up with the leisure needs of the community. The recent works will help to retain existing users and also attract new segments of the market, creating a destination for all the family to enjoy some leisure time.

Tom Fairey

Senior Business Development Manager, Alliance Leisure Services

This was a challenging project with significant crossover with the public, which was handled well. The finished facilities have been well received by our customers and will certainly help to strengthen user experience.
Both leisure centres are an essential part of the community, already more individuals and groups are enjoying the quality of service and leisure experience these two centres now have to offer.

David Brame

Chief Executive, InspireAll

Cheltenham Leisure Centre

A £2.5m project to refurbish Leisure at Cheltenham has completed allowing the centre to accommodate growing membership numbers and better cater for those with disabilities. The partnership project between The Cheltenham Trust, Cheltenham Borough Council, Sport England and Gloucestershire County Council creates a sport, fitness and play destination for visitors and members.

Alliance Leisure has delivered the scheme under The UK Leisure Framework. The project includes an extension to the gym with new equipment including strength and CV kit from Precor, with all CV equipment enabled with Preva networked fitness, and a range of specialist and high intensity CV equipment from Origin Fitness including Wattbikes, Concept2 Ski-Erg and Stairmaster Upper Body Ergometer. A new functional training area includes a Queenax™ functional training unit, Assault AirRunner and an Assault AirBike Elite from Precor, along with Origin’s specialist flooring finished with customised markings.

The development has been a reallocation of space across two floors of the 3,097 square foot building. Two courts in the sports hall were retained and the rest of the space – equivalent to 3 courts, has been remodelled to create a vibrant XHeight Adventure Climbing facility and soft play zone like nothing else available locally. The community was lacking a facility where families could enjoy time together and this development has successfully addressed this issue.

The introduction of inclusive equipment increases the centre’s capacity to meet the needs of health-related activities such as GP referral and physiotherapy programmes.

Two of the centre’s five squash courts have been converted into two new exercise studios, allowing the venue to expand its studio timetable offering and to introduce Les Mills Virtual classes.

Two former large changing rooms have been converted into a large 88sqm aquatics play area for children and families. The first of its kind in Cheltenham, the space features a host of interactive water play facilities including jets, cascades and water curtains; hand wheels and fill ‘n’ spill buckets; and a slide and interactive wall panels, all supplied by Hippo Leisure.

The reception area has been remodelled to improve the customer experience with a new welcoming reception desk, new access control, fast track kiosks for members and retail space.

Elsewhere, the gym changing rooms have been upgraded with new showers, lockers and disabled facilities. The swimming pool changing rooms now offer additional disability changing, including a changing places facility, while the refurbished female group changing includes new lockers, toilets and vanity area.

A new Pool Pod Hoist ensures access to the swimming pool for those with disabilities.

Aside from an upgrade in gym equipment in 2013, the project represents the first significant investment in the centre since it re-opened in 2008 following severe flood damage.

Gallery Notice : Images have either not been selected or couldn't be found

I am really excited to see this investment to enable people to take part and enjoy some great new activities and experiences whether in terms of their health and fitness or to simply play and have fun. A real focus has been on inclusivity and accessibility for the public to bring the services right up to date. Our core gym offer has been complimented with additional functional training equipment and this allows us to offer people real choices and diversity of activity and enables development of our in gym training classes and activity

Stephen Petherick

Head of Commercial & Customer Services, The Cheltenham Trust

These new facilities allow Leisure at Cheltenham to cater for visitors of all ages and abilities and will make a huge difference to the experience of users, especially those with special needs

Julia Goddard

Business Development Manager, Alliance Leisure Services

Mariner Leisure Centre, Falkirk

Mariner Leisure Centre

Client: Falkirk Council

Operator: Falkirk Community Trust

Value: £1.2m

Open Date: February 2020

Alliance Leisure were pleased to complete the £1.2m redevelopment of Mariner Leisure Centre in February 2020 which included Scotland’s first immersive studio.

Falkirk Community Trust, which operates sport, recreation, arts, heritage and library services on behalf of Falkirk Council, appointed leisure development specialist Alliance Leisure to deliver the project under the UK Leisure Framework.

Opened in 1985, the centre had just over 1,000 members when Alliance conducted its initial review of the site in 2019. The company’s latent demand report suggested a membership of more than 1,700 could be achieved by modernising the offer for today’s users.

The first floor of the centre has been redeveloped and now features Scotland’s first fully immersive workout environment, complete with a cinema size screen measuring almost 10m in span 2, top of the range audio and lighting systems and the Les Mills TRIP cycling workout.

The gym has almost doubled in size to 292 sqm, with more than 65 stations, including a Queenax functional training rig, sprint track, free weights, and two Keiser M7i wheelchair-accessible total body trainers.

There is also a newly created group fitness studio, which hosts a full timetable of live and virtual classes to complement the offering.

A separate review, conducted by Alliance Leisure, identified a need for wellness facilities to meet the needs of those not attracted by a traditional fitness offering.

The development therefore also includes a Shapemaster Hub, equipped with 12 pieces of power assisted equipment, which is designed for less mobile users, those who suffer from obesity or illness or are undergoing post-operative rehabilitation. A new office for Falkirk’s physical activity referral programme, Active Forth, will make it easier for the team to help those with more complex health issues to start their fitness journey.

The project has been funded by Falkirk Council and forms part of wider plans to revitalise the leisure offer in the area.

The Mariner Centre is a key asset delivering opportunities to get ‘more people, more active, more often’ and deliver the aims of Falkirk Community Trust as a charity. Modernising and improving the quality of our services, including the introduction of a new immersive spin studio, expands our relevance into new audiences – those with high expectations and an appetite for new activities close to home. In addition, the new dedicated Shapemaster Hub will help us provide access for harder to reach audiences.

Maureen Campbell

CEO of Falkirk Community Trust

Contact us today for support with your next development

Inverclyde Leisure

– the Art of the Possible

A long-term partnership between Inverclyde Leisure and Alliance Leisure has resulted in a 75 per cent increase in income and a 51 per cent rise in membership.

Formed in 2001, the trust delivers leisure, cultural and community activities across Inverclyde on behalf of Inverclyde Council, including 10 leisure centres.

The trust operates in areas of high deprivation as well as affluent wards, and since 2014 has developed a diversification strategy to appeal to all sectors of the local market. This includes implementing premier, budget, CrossFit and ladies-only fitness facilities, as well as children’s active play and café models to ensure the trust meets the demands and expectations of its customers.

This has enabled Inverclyde Leisure (IL) to have a clear marketing strategy, creating sub brands of IL Fitness Plus+, IL Fitness for Less, IL CrossFit, IL Express Ladies Fitness and Children’s Soft Play. Today, the trust serves approximately 80,000 active members.

Alternative leisure provision

Alliance Leisure first started working with Inverclyde Leisure in 2014 when the company was appointed as Development Partner to identify opportunities within the trust’s portfolio to meet the needs of all residents.

Ravenscraig Activity Centre was the first site identified for redevelopment. Opened in 1984, the dry-side centre had been well used in the past but changing user habits and expectations combined with good quality competing provision in the education sector meant that supply now exceeded demand and the facility was running at a deficit of £65,000.

The options appraisal showed there was a real need for physical activity, health and fitness provision in the area. Alliance Leisure identified a new mix of facilities that would match that need and subsequently delivered these as part of a £1.2 million project. Ravenscraig Activity Centre was transformed with the introduction of a low cost gym; soft play facility; XHeight Climb; F&B provision, including party rooms; and a Proud to Serve Costa Coffee cafe. Upgrades were also made to front of house, services and changing facilities.

Since the investment, Inverclyde Leisure has seen membership increase by over 3,000 per cent, membership usage rise by over 1,000 per cent and direct debit income grow resultantly.

Understanding community needs

Inverclyde Leisure was keen to replicate the success of Ravenscraig Activity Centre elsewhere in its portfolio and so in continuation of the Development Partnership worked with Alliance Leisure again to update the Lady Octavia Sports Centre. Opened in 1993 with a gym, sports hall and all weather pitches, the centre is located in a deprived area with high levels of unemployment.

Studies highlighted a need to drive physical activity at Lady Octavia Sports Centre. Alliance Leisure didn’t want to simply replicate the offer at nearby Ravenscraig, so the team looked instead at how the two sites could complement each other.

The 16-station gym was modernised and extended to 60 stations and relaunched as a Fitness for Less offering membership from £9.99 per month for unlimited access. The changing areas were refreshed and the team created a more welcoming reception area.

The £500,000 investment has resulted in a 570 per cent increase in fitness memberships.

The Art of the Possible

Boglestone Activity Centre, the latest site to be regenerated under the Inverclyde Leisure and Alliance Leisure partnership, completed in June of this year.

The centre has been completely transformed with the introduction of a large Fitness for Less gym and a spacious children’s soft play area alongside an adrenaline play frame featuring a sports zone with a basketball and sports pitch area. A Proud to Serve Costa Coffee cafe was also included in the refurbishment project totalling £1m.

Once again, the project has generated impressive returns. A few months following its completion and the site reported over 450 per cent increase in memberships to the centre.

Alliance Leisure is now working with Inverclyde Leisure on the next exciting phase of their long-term partnership. Currently going through planning, this fourth project proposes a new-build indoor tennis centre at Rankin Park, featuring three courts, a gym, toddler play area and café pod housed next to an existing pavilion.

Overall, Inverclyde Leisure’s net income from 2013-2019 has increased by a staggering 75 per cent, while membership has grown by 51 per cent over the same period.

We have something for everyone and to suit all budgets. For example, our Fitness for Less gyms are attracting people who couldn't afford our traditional gyms and allow us to engage with new audiences. We are investing in our facilities even though we have declining income from our management fee. We need to offset this decline and working with Alliance Leisure has helped to increase sustainable participation and income.

Kieron Vango

CEO, Inverclyde Leisure.

The first action we took was to analyse whether the business was performing to its full potential. Where performance had potential for improvement, we set about implementing a strategy which would transform the facilities to positively impact the community. When you walked around the site, you could see it was tired and as it was costing a subsidy there were genuine fears that the site could close. The normal thing to do with a facility that's costing money and not producing outputs is to consider closure, but we looked for alternatives. We focused on understanding the business and identifying opportunities to improve performance. We also studied drivers for physical activity and identified local health needs, all of which helped us to generate the product.

James Foley

Commercial Director, Alliance Leisure

Vital Statistics

Ravenscraig Activity Centre

Member Club Live: Increase – 3348%
Member Usage: Increase – 1048%
DD Income: Increase – 1233%

Lady Octavia Sports Centre

Member Club Live: Increase – 570%
Member Usage: Increase – 57%
DD Income: Increase – 176%

Boglestone Activity Centre

Member Club Live: Increase – 458%
Member Usage: Increase – 76%
DD Income: Increase – 316%

Overall net income growth

2013-2019: 75% increase

Overall membership growth

2013-2019: 51% increase

Contact us today for support with your next development

SC2- Denbighshire Leisure

SC2 – Denbighshire Leisure

In April 2019, Rhyl welcomed the opening of SC2, a £17 million development project, creating a modern, destination waterpark expected to attract more than 350,000 visitors every year.

Commissioned and funded mainly by Denbighshire County Council with a £2 million contribution from Rhyl Town Council and £700,000 from Welsh Government, the facility offers a large indoor waterpark, an outdoor splash pad, five food and beverage outlets, as well as the first TAGActive in North Wales and the first ever JuniorTAG in the UK.

The main indoor waterpark accommodates three large, thrill-seeker slides, along with a large water-based play structure incorporating a variety of slides and water features. Peripheral facilities include a large changing village with lockers and both individual and family changing cubicles. Changing Places approval has also been granted, recognising the excellent accessibility for visitors with a disability.

SC2’s TAGActive arena is the largest in the UK. The indoor multi-level play area is a cross between Total Wipeout and Ninja Warrior, with over 80 targets across 5 levels. The main TAGActive structure is suitable for those over 1.2m tall with games lasting around 20 minutes. JuniorTAG is suitable for young adventurers 900cm to 1.2m tall. A smaller and less intense version of TAGActive, the JuniorTAG structure mirrors that of TAGActive, but with smaller obstacles.

Outside, a large paddling pool is complemented by an array of water features from water guns and water webs to the showcase Paradise slide.

Julia Goddard, Senior Business Development Manager at Alliance Leisure, says: “It’s fantastic to see this project come to fruition. SC2 promises to attract visitors from miles around, creating the perfect destination for active, adventurous families, whatever the weather.”

The construction of SC2 forms part of a wider waterfront regeneration project by Denbighshire County Council which also includes upgrades to the Pavilion Theatre, the creation of the Premier Inn and improvements to the Sky Tower.

Gallery Notice : Images have either not been selected or couldn't be found

Alliance Leisure has been a key partner in this development from conception through to completion, managing all aspects of feasibility, facility mix, design and construction. Working together, we have delivered a sustainable leisure destination to be proud of, on time and on budget. Over the opening weekend, SC2 attracted 1,100 visitors and in our first two months this figure has averaged 2,200. Our forecast predicts an annual footfall of 350,000. Our ambition, working with Alliance Leisure, is to ensure the residents of Rhyl and the surrounding areas are provided with outstanding, sustainable leisure services that support a healthy, active lifestyle.

Jamie Groves

Head of Facilities, Assets and Housing

Summit Indoor Adventure

Summit Indoor Adventure opened its doors to the Selby public in May 2016. The £5.3m facility is managed by Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles and is located on Scott Road, Selby, Yorkshire.

The amazing facilities include a six-lane 10 pin bowling facility, adventure climbing with themed climbing panels up to eight metres high, an adventure play zone with a dedicated area for babies and toddlers, aerial trekking ropes set above the indoor skate and BMX park and two indoor ski simulators.

The on-site café and restaurant will also provide somewhere for users to grab and drink or something to eat.The facility is linked to the existing Selby Leisure Centre via a new glass walkway.

Alliance Leisure have delivered the project on behalf of Selby District Council, with construction partner ISG undertaking the role of principal contractor.

Gallery Notice : Images have either not been selected or couldn't be found

The fantastic new leisure village will give a real boost to the local economy. It’s not only providing jobs but is set to attract visitors into town from across the wider region. It also gives residents more opportunities to get active and healthy on their doorstep.

Cllr Dave Peart

Selby District Council’s executive member for responsibility for housing, leisure, health and culture

Monmouth Leisure Centre

In an impressive feat of construction engineering, a 25 metre swimming pool and spa has successfully been built within the existing structure of a sports hall.

This is the first time a project of this kind has been successfully executed in the UK and forms part of the £7.4m refurbishment and extension of Monmouth Leisure Centre for Monmouthshire County Council in South Wales.

Delivered by Alliance Leisure Services as part of the UK Leisure Framework, the multi-phased project has enabled the council to provide a raft of new facilities for the town including a new 60-station gym, exercise and group cycling studios, a toning suite, children’s play area and café in the most cost-effective way.

Monmouth has been without a public swimming pool for some years. To meet local demand for swimming, the development also includes a new 25m swimming pool and spa.

The leisure centre shares its site and some of its facilities with Monmouth Comprehensive School. At the time of the redevelopment, a new school was being built to the left of the leisure centre. With the existing school sitting to the right of the centre, the only place to put the pool was in the leisure centre’s sports hall.

“Squeezing the swimming pool into the sports hall was the only way we could provide the wide range of facilities required by Monmouth County Council to meet local need. This created a host of challenges equating to the construction industry’s equivalent of squeezing a ship into a bottle, but the results are amazing. Procuring the project through the UK Leisure Framework resulted in major efficiencies to the build process and allowed us to work with our trusted partners ISG to develop an innovative solution for this incredibly complicated project,” says Julia Goddard, senior business development manager at Alliance Leisure.

Principle build contractor ISG erected a high spec temporary sports hall to accommodate the needs of the school and community while the project was ongoing. Larger than its permanent predecessor, the four-court hall included a sprung floor, changing facilities, toilets, level access, heating and air conditioning.

Some of the sports hall walls had to be removed to get equipment and plant machinery into the building to facilitate the work. The building was stripped back to its shell and treated with spray-on insulation to protect and seal the hall and prevent any impact onto the adjoining dry site. ISG worked with Alliance to develop innovative solutions to a number of challenges caused by the logistical constraints of the site.

Built to ASA standards, the 25m, five lane pool occupies most of the hall. The building also accommodates a spa comprising an eight-person sauna, eight-person steam room and six-person spa bath.

It’s a very great pleasure and privilege to celebrate a successful project three years in the making. At a time when other councils were closing leisure centres, we committed to this new modern facility and we now see the fulfilment of our promise to the people of Monmouth and the surrounding areas. Members of the leisure centre’s staff have demonstrated faith in a time of uncertainty, but they can now look forward to a bright future. I’d also like to recognise the contribution of development specialist Alliance Leisure which has supported the council throughout the project and the ISG construction services company for its wonderful work here in Monmouth.

Councillor Bob Greenland

Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Leisure

Batley Sport & Tennis Centre

Batley Sports Centre was completed in 2018, in Kirklees, creating a 12,000 sq.ft. physical activity and adventure hub to engage youngsters and families of all ages.

Charitable trust Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL) invested £1.5 million in the project, delivered by Alliance Leisure under the UK Leisure Framework. The investment has been committed to create a sustainable physical activity hub which will appeal to a wider section of the local community.

The new facility results from a reconfiguration of the existing site with two indoor courts transformed into a vibrant play and activity zone, utilising the latest technological innovations designed to motivate and engage tech savvy youngsters.

The site has become the first public sector facility to offer TAG active®, a ground-breaking, ‘trainers on’ adventure facility. KAL have named the TAG active® facility ‘ X’ which sits under their ‘Days Out’ brand designed to create awareness of the family attractions available to those within Kirklees and the surrounding West Yorkshire area.

Players must use physical movement, speed, agility and strategy to locate and reach hidden transponder boxes. Once found, the box is ‘Tagged’ using an electronic chip imprinted in a wristband. Each time a player tags a box, points are awarded.

Electronic scoreboards keep a real-time track of how individuals are performing, with music and mood lighting to enhance the atmosphere and create an exciting, stimulating environment which encourages mental and physical prowess.

TAG active® caters for youngsters, with statistics recorded at other centres showing the highest engagement by 11-14 year olds. This facility will be complemented by an Adventure Play zone for toddlers through to seven years old.
The redevelopment of Batley Tennis Centre is part of KAL’s mission to provide engaging, accessible recreation facilities and services which respond to the ever evolving needs of a very diverse community. Batley Tennis Centre is one of 13 leisure sites managed by KAL on behalf of Kirklees Council. Since the formation of the Trust in 2002, more than £20 million has been invested by KAL and Kirklees Council with every surplus pound reinvested into leisure provision.

James Foley, Commercial Director at Alliance, says: “This site is a great example of a council stepping up to the plate when it comes to engaging the latest innovations to encourage an active community. The Adventure Play zone and TAG X will completely transform the facility, bringing vibrancy, sensorial stimulation and an opportunity for youngsters to test their mental and physical skills in a unique fun, safe and exciting environment.”

Batley Sports and Tennis Centre continues to offer tennis across four outdoor and two indoor courts. Facilities are also supported by changing facilities, a café and seating area.

KAL is absolutely committed to developing and sustaining healthier, happier and fitter communities. The indoor adventure area means we have something new to offer the younger generation. A place where families can come together to enjoy physical activity. Encouraging physical literacy at an early age is absolutely vital if we are to address the growing inactivity crisis. Youngsters need to be provided with spaces which enthuse and encourage movement. This investment has been committed to achieve just that.

Barry Turnbull

Business Development at KAL

Our partners at Alliance Leisure have consistently demonstrated their expertise driving increased footfall to leisure facilities, by redesigning and upgrading leisure provision at existing sites. This is key to making centres more attractive and therefore better utilised by the local communities they serve.

Tim Harvey

Regional Director at ISG

Northallerton Leisure Centre

Northallerton Leisure Centre – Hambleton District Council

The new facilities at Northallerton Leisure Centre were opened officially on the 20th March 2018 by Champion Great Britain runner Marc Scott.

The £2.5m investment project, commissioned and funded mainly by Hambleton District Council with a £213,000 contribution from Sport England towards swim changing improvements, has seen the construction of a new 5,100sq ft extension to house a fully equipped fitness suite supplied by Technogym and complete with new functional training area and rig. The gym will operate 24/7 365 days a year thanks to new access control systems.

A toning suite has also been added to attract a new segment of the market and the original fitness space has been renovated to include a general purpose studio and a group cycling studio.

The investment has also seen general repair and upgrade works to the existing water slides, flumes and wave machine in the pool area. The pool surround has been replaced and new shower facilities added, as well as the Changing Village being completely reconfigured. In addition to the inclusion of more lockers and changing cubicles, the facilities now boost Changing Places approval, recognising the improved accessibility for people with a disability.

The investment has breathed new life into our fitness provision, enabling us to offer residents a new standard in quality and variety of training options. We have also installed technology which, using unique access codes and single person entry ‘pods’, makes it safe and secure to offer 24 hour access to the fitness facilities. This gives people more opportunity to fit physical activity into busy schedules and helps us in our ambition to get a higher percentage of the local population engaged in regular exercise.

Steve Lister

Head of Service, Leisure and Environment for Hambleton District Council

Sports facilities are a vital part of community sport and we know people have a better experience of sport when they can play in good quality facilities. Thanks to National Lottery funding we can continue to invest in sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can enjoy a first rate experience of being fit and active.