Curtain raised on multi-million-pound redevelopment of Bradley Stoke Lifestyle Centre

Customers can enjoy a range of new facilities at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre following a major £3.6million redevelopment funded by South Gloucestershire Council.

Bradley Stoke Matters was delighted to be invited along to the official launch last week to meet partners and staff involved in the project and also triathlete and 2016 Paralympian Gold medallist Andy Lewis, who used the centre for his pre-Olympics training and who performed the official cutting of the ribbon.  In his run up to the Rio Olympics, Bradley Stoke was the nearest centre that could offer Andy proper training facilities and so was critical to his pre-Games training.

Pupils from Bradley Stoke Community School were amongst those lucky enough to have a preview of the new look lifestyle centre and to meet Andy, who brought along his gold medal and spent time chatting to leisure centre staff and guests.  I can say that we were all surprised at just how heavy an Olympic Gold medal is!

There will be an open day on 14 January, where the public are invited to look round the centre and try the new facilities, which include an extensive soft play zone and an all adventure climbing experience. There has also been significant Investment made into the gym, café, and studios, making the centre a real destination venue for the local community and wider area.

Alongside the leisure centre facilities, which were redeveloped by leisure design and build specialist Createability, improved library accessibility and extended opening hours through a swipe card access system is due to begin in February and both services will benefit from an additional 130 parking spaces.

Andy said: “This is a fantastic centre. I wish I had such great facilities on my doorstep. The support from the leisure centre has been awesome from start to finish and I couldn’t have achieved the Gold without them. The new facilities look amazing.”

Mark Crutchley, chief executive of Circadian Trust, which manages and operates the centre on behalf of South Gloucestershire Council said: “This has been a major project that has taken us almost a year to complete. We have kept to our original schedules and so I would like to thank our customers who have been patient throughout the process. I think everyone will agree that the results have been worth it and demonstrates our commitment to investing in our centres for the community and the future.  As a not for profit organisation, we can continue to reinvest money back into Active Centres across South Gloucestershire, which means responding to demand and offering our customers a top-class leisure experience.  The adventure climbing wall has been a big hit with over 4,000 visits since it was open a couple of months ago.”

Councillor Heather Goddard, Chair of the South Gloucestershire Council Environment and Community Services Committee, said: “This is exciting and ambitious partnership development that has really secured Bradley Stoke Lifestyle Centre’s position as somewhere for the whole family to use. We are delighted to have invested in these new facilities, which will make exercise fun and enjoyable in a friendly and modern environment and we are looking forward to seeing more people through the doors in 2017.”

South Gloucestershire and Circadian will now be turning their attention to Longwell Green Active Lifestyle Centre, where a £1.5million redevelopment will deliver a new fitness studio, an additional 25 stations in the fitness suite, a new lobby and more poolside showers.

To book your place at Active Adventure or find out more, please visit: http://adventure.activecentres.org/

To find out more about Andy Lewis, please visit: http://www.andyjlewis.co.uk/

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