Hub for Helensburgh

The town has no community centre. Could this family business fill the gap?

The Illawarra Flame reports

Helensburgh has a population of 6304, according to the 2021 Census, and another 3402 people live in the surrounding 2508 suburbs. The town is ringed by bushland, walking and bike trails, it has a free swimming pool and extensive sports fields. But it hasn’t got a community centre.

The old hall on Walker Street died of natural causes or neglect (depending on whether you talk to council or local residents) and a new public building is years away.

The double whammy of a smoky Black Summer, followed by years of La Niña highlighted the need for an indoor venue where people can meet and exercise, which is why the Tigers rugby league club and Helensburgh Netball Club supported the grant application to expand Burgh Healthy Hub. Not only does Burgh have a 24/7 gym, the building on Cemetery Road also offers room hire, a space to host children’s parties, yoga classes and a creche.

Ben Abeleven bought Helensburgh Fitness Centre in 2015. For the past seven years, he’s been the driving force behind renovations and improvements, while his wife, Treetop Arts director Charlie Truscott, has created a flourishing centre of the performing arts with more than 320 students learning aerials, tumbling, parkour, gymnastics, acro dance and drama.

Ben’s long had big dreams to expand the centre and this year, thanks to a $2.1 million funding boost from the NSW Government’s Multi-Sport Community Facility Fund, stage 1 is ready to roll.

“I believe this project shows a commitment to

Helensburgh generally from all parties,” Ben says.

“Even the Wollongong council gave us a letter of support acknowledging a lack of indoor/wet weather type recreation available locally.”

Ben can see Burgh acting as a centre for the community. “It already is,” he says. “Over 620 different people visit our centre each week, 590 of them are from Helensburgh, Stanny or Otford. That’s 10% of the local population…

“A huge part of my goal with the master plan was to create more spaces to socialise and not walk directly onto a gym floor (as it’s currently in the centre of the building). The addition of more sport uses – like the quarter court for netball/soccer and the bouldering [area] – will bring all the aspects that make a space communal.

“I’ve already had parents thank me (or more our space) for ‘saving them’ … sounds crazy, but now as a parent I too realise having a creche to drop the kids off and space to do something physical is incredibly important.”

Ben is wholly committed to the build and matching the grant funding with a bank loan of $2.2m to cover stage 1. “Financially for us this was a no-brainer, I already had a long-term (20+ year) plan of doing affordable small stages. So our project total is a $4.3m improvement to Burgh Healthy Hub in line with the master plan.”

How the dream team met

In 2015 arborist Ben Abeleven moved to Helensburgh and bought the Fitness Centre on Cemetery Road. The same year Charlie Truscott, a professional performer with a passion for coaching young people, returned to Wollongong after studying at California’s International Del Arte School of Physical Theatre.

Charlie met Ben when she took on a Circus WOW class in Helensburgh.

“I came back from clown school in America and I started teaching on a random Thursday night,” she said.

As Charlie drove into town, she noticed a fresh sign for Helensburgh Fitness Centre.

“I remember looking at that sign, and going, ‘Whoever has taken over is a bit of a mover and shaker’.

“Then one night he came into the class, like this kind of slightly awkward, buff, blond, curly-haired guy holding a bunch of papers with a bunch of middle-aged women in leotards hanging upside-down on silks.

“Ben’s used to working with blokes on a site, you know, and then he comes in and he’s like, ‘I just want to give a survey to everybody’.

“I saw him and I didn’t know if I believed in love at first sight, but at that moment I did.

“He didn’t even say anything and I just felt like the floor gave away and I’ve never felt anything like that in my life. It was so strong that I actually left my fiancé and cancelled my wedding.

“Nine months later, I invited Ben to come to the Falls Festival. And he asked me to be his girlfriend.

“Two weeks later we were married at the festival. It just happened really fast.”

Charlie bought a dress from a garage sale, a shirt for Ben and flowers from Woolworths.

“There was a hairdresser next to the tent that did my hair. I did my make-up on a milk crate. And I never felt so beautiful in my life. We found a celebrant at the festival, there was a band there. It was like there was a wedding waiting to happen, it was really quite a magic time.”

Seven years on, Charlie and Ben have two young daughters, Aphyre and Dottie. Years of hard work have paid off and the couple are committed to building a healthy, active community in Helensburgh – for their family and all others.

Photos supplied