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Articles Tagged with: leisure centre

Public Sector Leisure Receives ‘Levelling Up’ Investment Boost

Last month, the government announced more than £300 million will be injected into leisure and wellbeing developments, thanks to a number of successful Levelling Up Fund (LUF) bids. The investment allocation is part of a total £2.1 billion round two ‘levelling up’ investment fund introduced to help tackle regional inequalities.

This news is most welcome. Still too much of the UK's leisure stock is tired and struggling to meet the modern needs of the communities it serves. This funding will unlock opportunities for those councils who submitted successful bids to develop new active environment in tune with modern day community needs. This will help to deliver against much wider objectives such as creating more active populations through better engagement with disengaged groups, tackling health inequalities and promoting community cohesion. £300 million is an encouraging step in the right direction, but we know more investment is needed to maintain sustainable public sector provision. It is also encouraging to hear that the government intends this round of investment to be followed by a third round.

Paul Cluett

Managing Director, Alliance Leisure

One of the projects to benefit from round 2 of LUF is the building of a new wellbeing hub in Caerphilly, Wales, courtesy of a successful bid to the tune of £20 million by Caerphilly County Borough Council supported by Alliance Leisure and Mutual Ventures.

The new facility, to be located in the heart of Caerphilly, will become the flagship leisure and wellbeing hub for the whole county borough. This project is due to be delivered by Alliance Leisure , with ISG named as the principal construction partner, Watson Batty as architects and Hadron Consulting taking care of project management, and is expected to complete by March 2025.

In addition to the investment from LUF, Caerphilly County Council is also contributing more than £13 million from its own reserves towards the new facility, creating a total funding pot of more than £33 million. The development will be procured through the UK Leisure Framework, which is owned and managed by Denbighshire Leisure.

The wellbeing hub will include a swimming pool, fitness suite, active play centre for children and teenagers, spa and wellbeing facilities, a multi-purpose sports hall, catering facilities and several multi-use community rooms to support health, wellbeing and community cohesion.

This is fantastic news and demonstrates our vision and ambition to deliver major projects that will regenerate our communities and result in positive change for local residents.

Cllr Sean Morgan

Caerphilly Council Leader

The development is a key part of the council’s wider Sport and Active Recreation Strategy which aims to get more people, more active, more often. It also forms part of a major regeneration blueprint for Caerphilly town centre called the Caerphilly 2035 Place Making Plan – as well as the wider £500+ million place shaping programme for the wider county borough.

Alliance Leisure are already involved in the delivery of several other leisure projects made possible by the first round of LUF, including Clay Cross Active, a £24m new-build development on behalf of North East Derbyshire District Council, and Mablethorpe Leisure and Learning Hub which is in construction and due to open in the summer of 2024.

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£12m sports facility breaks ground

Former England footballer Teddy Sheringham and a host of partners came together to officially break ground and sign the steel beams on the new £12m state-of-the-art sports facility at Parsloes Park in Dagenham.

The development will feature a gym, fitness studio, a café, and meeting/multi-use rooms, as well as providing new shower and changing facilities to support 16 grass

The project is being funded by a £6.2million grant from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation, as well as a £6.1million investment from Barking and Dagenham Council. The project has also received contributions from the London Marathon Charitable Trust and The Greater London Authority.

The new sports centre is being delivered by specialist leisure developer Alliance Leisure and their partners at Etec Group, Varsity Consulting and Bradshaw, Gass & Hope LLP, after being procured via the UK Leisure Framework, which is managed by Denbighshire Leisure.

The Sports Hub will be operated by the charity, Leisure United on behalf of the National Football Trust itself a registered charity.

It's fantastic to see this development starting to take shape and when finished it will offer state-of-the-art community and sports facilities for people to take advantage of. It's no secret that our borough has a rich, historic connection to football – we're the birthplace of England's only World Cup winning manager and captain – so it's only right that we have a modern, purpose-built hub that can hopefully one day create even more success stories.

Councillor Saima Ashraf

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement at Barking and Dagenham Council

Once complete, this purpose-built sports facility will become an integral part of community life and a first-class facility for a range of sports clubs. We‘re proud to be working alongside the council and our partners to deliver this project that not only supports players but also provides a venue for schools and grassroot sports clubs to hold meetings and education sessions.

Greg Walker

Business Development Manager at Alliance Leisure

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Work Begins On Pitch Developments in Ceredigion

Work has begun on new 3G pitch developments across three sites in Ceredigion, worth £794,000.

Alliance Leisure’s first venture with Ceredigion County Council, these three pitches are replacing existing pitches in two leisure centres and a primary school to provide higher quality surfaces which are, in cases, specifically tailored to the highest standards in professional sport.

The pitches at Cardigan Leisure Centre and Synod Primary School have been designed to meet Welsh Rugby Union standards, as well as also meeting FIFA Quality standards. These sites will have a new 60mm 3G surface implemented, as well as an integrated shock pad.

The final 3G pitch at Lampeter Leisure Centre is also getting a total refresh, which is tailored to standards from the Fédération Internationale de Hockey. This will include a complete resurfacing of the sand dressed hockey pitch.

The projects were procured using the UK Leisure Framework, and will be carried out by the expert teams from Surfacing Standards Ltd. and South Wales Sports Grounds.

Alliance Leisure are delighted to support the creation of facilities that will provide communities in Ceredigion with top-quality surfaces on which they can play all manner of sports and keep active.

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Major Milestone for Knaresborough Project

The end of 2022 marked a huge milestone in the development of Knaresborough Leisure Centre with the signing of the steel by organisations involved in the construction project.

David Hawcroft and Councillor Matt Scott of Harrogate Borough Council, Stuart Winslow of Brimhams Active, Julian Donnelly from ISG and Sean Nolan from Alliance Leisure all joined Andrew Jones MP, MP for Harrogate, at the King James Road location where the £17m leisure and wellness centre will open this summer.

The project is being delivered by leisure development specialist Alliance Leisure and their construction partner ISG. The Knaresborough site is one of two leisure projects currently underway with another £11m investment being made at Harrogate Hydro. Both projects are being delivered via the UK Leisure Framework which is managed by Denbighshire Leisure.

The Knaresborough scheme includes a six-lane 25metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, immersive cycling studio, café, electric car charging points, an outdoor play area and bicycle storage.

Providing a comment to the York Press, Councillor Stanley Lumley, the Borough Council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at Brimhams Active, said, “This new facility for Knaresborough will be a fantastic asset for the town and shows our commitment to investing in leisure provision across the district.

“Our vision at Brimhams Active is to create a healthier, more active population that is living longer, more independent and happier lives. And by supporting this vision through this level of investment, we’ll be able to achieve this.”

Incorporating high efficiency building materials, air source heat pumps and solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint, the centre is being built to the BREEAM standard of ‘Excellent’ which provides third-party certification of the assessment of the sustainability and energy performance for buildings. Achieving this BREEAM accreditation will contribute to the council’s vision to have a net-zero carbon economy by 2038.

The steel signing is a reminder of all the groups that have come together to make this project a success. I'm proud to say that my name will be on this building that will serve the local community for decades to come.

Sean Nolan

Business Development Manager, Alliance Leisure

The signing of the steel marked a key milestone in the construction of Knaresborough Leisure Centre, where the ISG project team has worked closely with the client team to develop first-class facilities for the town. The construction works are progressing well, and our team is closely managing the process to ensure the highest levels of safety and quality are achieved across the project.

Danny Leigh

Senior Project Manager, ISG

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Local authorities leading the charge in responding to the world’s ‘code red’ on climate change

Local authorities are leading the way in helping the UK to meet its net zero targets, says development partner Alliance Leisure, following the launch of the UN’s landmark report on climate change.

James Foley, Commercial Director at Alliance Leisure, says public sector providers in particular are playing a key role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the government’s 2050 target by committing to strategic projects to decarbonise their activities through targeted investment in equipment and infrastructure.

“The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report shows that human activity is “unequivocally” the cause of rapid changes to the climate resulting in extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding. We are working with public sector leisure providers across the UK to improve energy efficiencies and cut carbon emissions across entire communities,” he says.

“Many of the UK’s sports and leisure centres were built in the 1970s and are extremely energy inefficient generating high carbon emissions. Any improvements we make to these sites will have a significant impact on local sustainability targets.”

For example, Alliance Leisure is working with Hambleton District Council to cut carbon emissions across four leisure centres at Northallerton, Stokesley, Bedale and Thirsk. Alliance helped the council to secure a £4.7m Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme grant to fund the installation of new heat pumps, solar panels and LED light fittings. Projections indicate these collective efficiencies will result in 57 per cent per annum reduction in the carbon output for each centre, with the added bonus of a £38,985 projected cost saving per year.

The government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is designed to help councils improve efficiencies and cut carbons from public sector buildings. Both rounds of the fund proved a huge success with phase two closing after just one week after receiving applications worth more than £150m for the £75m fund.

“This demonstrates just how proactive local authorities are in delivering the net zero agenda. And we are firmly committed to helping our public sector partners play their part in cutting carbon emissions to help avert a climate catastrophe.”

The climate crisis and the findings from the IPCC report will be a key focus at the international summit, scheduled to take place in Glasgow, UK, this November.

3G Pitches Open in Holyhead

New 3G Pitches Opened

A new 3G pitch was recently completed by Alliance Leisure in Garreglwyd Park in Holyhead, Anglesey.

The works, on behalf of Isle of Anglesey County Council, consisted of converted 3 old tennis courts into a new 3G pitch which has a rugby compliant surface.

The project investment was £161k and was completed inside the proposed budget and 3 weeks ahead of schedule too! Partners Durasport and Surfacing Standards worked with Alliance Leisure to deliver this fantastic community asset.

Works complete at Crystal Leisure Centre in Stourbridge

Following a revamp managed by Alliance Leisure, we are delighted to report that the 25 metre swimming pool at the Crystal Leisure Centre has re-opened to swimmers. The leisure pool will re-open later this month, bringing with it the return of free swimming sessions for children.

The redevelopment of the wet side facilities at this centre is the first project to complete as part of the £31 million investment by Dudley Council that also includes the construction of a brand new leisure centre in Dudley and a transformational redevelopment of the centre in Halesowen.

The upgrade works at Crystal Leisure Centre have included a complete tile repair, re-grout and clean of both the 25-metre pool and the leisure pool, as well as the addition of several interactive water features and a DJ booth to compliment the leisure pool, where the slides have also been relined and painted.

The changing facilities have been completely remodelled to create a spacious changing village perfect for families.

Councillor Simon Phipps, Dudley Council’s cabinet member responsible for leisure centres, says: “It’s fantastic to see the 25 metre pool back open at Crystal. I had the chance to have a look around and I must say the contractors have done a first class job.”

The works at Crystal Leisure Centre are part of a wider £31million leisure regeneration programme procured through the UK Leisure Framework, managed by Denbighshire Leisure, which has seen Alliance Leisure work with construction partner, Speller Metcalfe, to deliver the project.

Julia Goddard, Senior Development Manager, Alliance Leisure, says: “It’s fantastic to see the difference this investment has made at the Crystal Leisure Centre. By committing investment in leisure, Dudley Council is creating active environments for residents to enjoy for many years to come and we are delighted to have been involved in such a transformational project.”

Residents in Halesowen are also to benefit from the Council’s investment, with an £8.8 million remodelling project well underway at the Halesowen Leisure Centre. Here, the fitness suite has been expanded and a wellness suite added to extend the appeal to a wider segment of the community, plus the adventure play area, café and main entrance will all enjoy a revamp. In the pool area a new changing village will enhance the experience for learners through to advanced swimmers.

In Dudley, construction of the new, £18.1 million Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre is also underway, with the centre due to handover in November and open in January 2022.

Benefiting from excellent public transport links via the forthcoming adjacent Metro stop and the nearby bus Interchange, the new leisure centre will include a 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool and a teaching pool with spectator provision.

There will be a four-court sports hall suitable for indoor football, badminton and more, plus a sauna, 100-station gym and fitness suite, two group exercise studios and an immersive cycle studio – a first for the Black Country – and power-assisted wellness centre which may help those recovering from injury, older customers and people living with long-term health conditions.

There will also be a soft play area with catering facilities and a party room, and a café.

ukactive Awards 2021

The much anticipated ukactive Awards 2021 took place virtually on the 12th of August, and the team at Alliance Leisure watched them with great anticipation and enjoyment. As ever, they offered a great opportunity to celebrate the very best examples of work and ingenuity in the industry, especially following the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We were immensely proud that over half of the finalists shortlisted for the award for ‘New Concept, Build or Design of the Year’ at the ukactive Awards were Alliance Leisure developments. Whilst we were disappointed not to win the award, we would like to congratulate to the winners, and are honoured that our projects reached the final stage at such a prestigious event. We would also like to thank our partners and suppliers who helped to make these projects possible.

Sarah Watts, CEO of Alliance Leisure, says:

I was delighted and proud to see these four facilities shortlisted as finalists at the ukactive awards. We extend huge congratulations to the winner, and are delighted that the projects that Alliance Leisure were a part of have been recognised for serving as innovative, enjoyable, and accessible ways for people to be more active, more often.

Sarah Watts

CEO, Alliance Leisure

The projects for which we were nominated are:

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Built on behalf of Denbighshire Leisure, this incredible facility offers a large indoor waterpark, an outdoor splash pad, five food and beverage outlets, as well as the first TAGActive in North Wales, which also happens to be the largest in the UK.
Monmouth Leisure Centre

A true feat of engineering which saw a swimming pool being put into a former sports hall, this project on behalf of Monmouthshire County Council is a true testament to innovation.
Long Stratton Leisure Centre

Long Stratton’s transformation is one of the most profound of ours in recent years, and the thorough refurbishment included a new gym, soft play facility, café, and much more.
Haverhill Leisure Centre

The ingenious re-think of Haverhill Leisure Centre placed, now thriving, soft play and Clip ‘n’ Climb facilities in the previously underused sports hall, as well as a host of other refurbishments to achieve the centre’s full potential.

4 Alliance Leisure Developments Nominated for ukactive Awards

Alliance Leisure are delighted to reveal that four of their developments have been shortlisted for the finals of the ukactive Awards 2021 in the category of ‘New Concept, Build or Design of the Year’.

These impressive projects are:

SC2

Built on behalf of Denbighshire Leisure, this incredible facility offers a large indoor waterpark, an outdoor splash pad, five food and beverage outlets, as well as the first TAGActive in North Wales, which also happens to be the largest in the UK.
Monmouth Leisure Centre

A true feat of engineering which saw a swimming pool being put into a former sports hall, this project on behalf of Monmouthshire County Council is a true testament to innovation.
Long Stratton Leisure Centre

Long Stratton’s transformation is one of the most profound of ours in recent years, and the thorough refurbishment included a new gym, soft play facility, café, and much more.
Haverhill Leisure Centre

The ingenious re-think of Haverhill Leisure Centre placed, now thriving, soft play and Clip ‘n’ Climb facilities in the previously underused sports hall, as well as a host of other refurbishments to achieve the centre’s full potential.

Sarah Watts, CEO of Alliance Leisure, says:

“We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for these prestigious awards. The fact that four of our projects have reached this stage exemplifies just how much fantastic work the team has achieved, which we are continuing into the future with more transformational developments.”

New Dudley Leisure Centre Site Receives Top Marks

ISG, the appointed construction team working on building a new leisure centre in Dudley, recently re-named the Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre, have received outstanding marks as part of the Considerate Constructors Scheme for their practices.

The report commented that the site on Flood Street was the best they had seen in the last year, and ISG are now using the site as a showcase of good practice, with other construction firms visiting Dudley to learn from ISG’s work.

Dudley Council has committed £17.4 million to the project in the heart of the town centre. Working in partnership with Alliance Leisure, through the UK Leisure Framework, the council will create a vibrant modern hub for residents and workers to enjoy a range of physical activities.

The new venue will be located in Flood Street, approximately one mile from the current centre and will occupy part of a council owned car park. It will include: a 25 metre, 8-lane swimming pool; a teaching pool with spectator provision; sauna; a 4-court sports hall; a 100 station fitness suite; two group exercise studios; an immersive cycle studio; a soft play area with catering facilities and a party room; a café; a sauna and a power assisted exercise studio.

Julia Goddard, Senior Business Development Manager at Alliance Leisure, says: “Because this is a brand new facility, we can design an environment that perfectly reflects the needs of the community. Incorporating the soft play area and power assisted exercise studio will extend appeal to a much wider audience, creating an inclusive provision that can be enjoyed by all. The town centre location also means the facility boasts great accessibility and is within easy reach of a new Metro stop on Flood Street and the bus interchange.”

Construction works are due to complete in October 2021. The current leisure centre on Wellington road will remain open until the new centre is ready to open its doors in Spring 2022.

The Alliance Leisure development team also includes Robert Limbrick Architects alongside ISG. All works will be delivered via the UK Leisure Framework, managed by Denbighshire Leisure. Full details of the Dudley regeneration programme can be found here.

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Public Sector Leisure Receives ‘Levelling Up’ Investment Boost

Paul Cluett

Cllr Sean Morgan

£12m sports facility breaks ground

Councillor Saima Ashraf

Greg Walker

Work Begins On Pitch Developments in Ceredigion

Work has begun on new 3G pitch developments across three sites in Ceredigion, worth £794,000.

Major Milestone for Knaresborough Project

Sean Nolan

Danny Leigh

Local authorities leading the charge in responding to the world’s ‘code red’ on climate change

Local authorities leading the charge in responding to the world’s ‘code red’ on climate change

3G Pitches Open in Holyhead

New 3G Pitches Opened

Works complete at Crystal Leisure Centre in Stourbridge

Works complete at Crystal Leisure Centre in Stourbridge

ukactive Awards 2021

ukactive Awards 2021

Sarah Watts

SC2

Monmouth Leisure Centre

Long Stratton Leisure Centre

Haverhill Leisure Centre

4 Alliance Leisure Developments Nominated for ukactive Awards

4 Alliance Leisure Developments Nominated for ukactive Awards

SC2

Monmouth Leisure Centre

Long Stratton Leisure Centre

Haverhill Leisure Centre

Sarah Watts, CEO of Alliance Leisure, says:

New Dudley Leisure Centre Site Receives Top Marks

New Dudley Leisure Centre Site Receives Top Marks

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