Places Leisure to reopen safely with £250,000 boost
Council helps secure vital funding
Eastleigh’s state-of-the art health, sports and fitness centre is preparing to safely re-open on Monday 12 April, with a major financial boost, facilitated by the Council.
Eastleigh Borough Council’s SportWorks and HealthWorks teams are putting in plans to restart schemes at the centre as soon as it is safe to do so, including the ground breaking, on-site Health Hub. Creating healthy communities is a key aim for the Council and its Health and Wellbeing team have been helping residents increase physical activity, adapting to the challenge of the pandemic with virtual and online activities.
The Council helped Places Leisure Eastleigh with their successful bid to a government fund to support the recovery of publicly owned leisure centres. £100 million of funding has been allocated to 266 local authorities across England, and distributed by Sport England, with PLE achieving a £256,000 boost to help them emerge from lockdown. The funding will go towards covering costs incurred during the lockdown period to enable a safe reopening of the leisure centre.
It has been a very challenging time for the leisure sector over the pandemic and their facilities are especially key for disadvantaged groups, who have been hit hardest over the past year.
HealthWorks have recently live-streamed 16 new virtual Steady and Strong classes, aimed at older adults who may be at risk of falling, with 80 attendances across the Borough throughout February. SportWorks’ Friday Night Football for 10 to 19 year-olds, Walking Netball and Walking Football also operate at the Places Leisure Eastleigh site and are planned to return as lockdown eases.