Cheltenham Borough Council have announced that a planned £2.5million re-development of Leisure at Cheltenham will begin on Monday.
Sport England have provided funding of £330,000 for the revamp, which includes extending the fitness suite, building two new exercise studios as well as a new aquatic play space. Improvements to the reception area and changing rooms will also take place.
Flo Clucas, the council’s cabinet member for healthy lifestyles said: “I think in the long term it will benefit the young people of Cheltenham enormously because they will be able to enjoy the facilities from a very young age. That in itself can instil in a child a real desire to be a part of sport and do things that they wouldn’t otherwise do.
“Once they’ve got into the habit of using [the facilities], developing a sports profile of that person becomes much easier. With work that is already being done in schools, what you then have is a virtuous circle – you enjoy sport so you go and play sport, and because you play sport you get better at it so you go and play it more. That for me is the foundation of a really good sporting activity.”
The development at the site in Tommy Taylor’s Lane will vastly improve the opportunities for people of all ages. Clucas believes that it could attract external interest, and hopes further funding could be a possibility within Gloucestershire.
“I think Gloucestershire actually suffers from a lack of facilities. One of things I hope this will demonstrate is that we can provide the facilities, the opportunities and the talent to make it worthwhile for Sport England to invest well in Gloucestershire. If we can do that then it benefits everybody.
“The fact that they can enjoy things and if it’s an enjoyable activity they can progress. If all they want to do is have a bit of fun in a pool, that’s fine! But, the facilities will also be there for them if they want to progress and get better and hopefully achieve what they want to achieve through sport. For me, that’s the great value of it.
“It’s an investment, not in a building, not in a facility but in our people.”
