Leisure Centres to get cash boost

A £1 million investment in Loughborough, Soar Valley and South Charnwood leisure centres has been announced.

Charnwood Borough Council and Fusion Lifestyle have worked together since October 2011 and the extension to the current contract means the partnership will carry on for a further five years.

The money will be spent on the gyms and studios with a further £150,000 will be invested in LED lighting at all sites to help reduce carbon emissions.

Cllr Leigh Harper-Davies, the Council’s lead member for community support said: “It is great our long-term partnership with Fusion to deliver high-class leisure facilities will move forward during the next five years.

“There were nearly 13,000 visits a week to our three leisure centres over the past 12 months which demonstrates how much people have enjoyed getting back to the gym, exercise classes and the swimming lanes.

“The improvement works which are being planned through the £1 million investment will ensure each site continue to offer residents high quality facilities and value for money.”

The sport and community development programme which facilitates a range of health and wellbeing activities including the GP Exercise Referral, dementia and parkinson programmes will also continue.

In addition, a number of activities in partnership with Leicester City in the Community will continue including the Football for Weight loss Programme and the Junior Bootcamp and Urban Foxes sessions which are aimed at youngsters.

Anthony Cawley, CEO of Fusion Lifestyle, said: “We are delighted that we will be continuing to work with Charnwood Borough Council to provide comprehensive leisure facilities to residents. 

“We believe in providing quality sport, leisure and fitness activities to the community and the planned investment programme will ensure the centres offer top of the range facilities for many years to come.”

Facilities available across the three leisure centres include a pool and a gym at each site, fitness studios, a dedicated indoor cycle studio, sports hall, squash courts, astro turf pitch and an indoor soft play. 

Over the last 12 months, around 672,000 visits took place across the three leisure centres with an average of 56,000 visits per month.