Leisure centre receives £166,000 funding boost

PENISTONE Leisure Centre has been successful in an application for £166,000 of funding from East Peak Innovation Partnership (EPIP is European funding) towards Phase one of their refurbishment project.

The space now

Artist's impression of how it could look

Along with £60,000 of money from BMBC Section 106 fund, money which housing developers set aside to improve local amenities, the funding means that work will be able to start on the improvements.

Rachel Gibbons, chair of the board of trustees, told Look Local: “This is fantastic news! We can now start to make huge changes to improve the centre for the whole community.”

A spokesperson for the centre said: “Phase one of our project refers to internal reorganisation of Penistone Leisure Centre to maximise the potential of the building and to make the inside accessible to everyone in our community.

“The current layout limits its use, meaning people have to walk through the main hall during classes to access the gym rooms, party room, kitchen and storage. Our new layout will mean that there is a new gym room with large windows with views down the fields, a new skate store and workshop, a large cafe with windows looking into the hall so that you can watch activities whilst enjoying a snack/drink, a bigger second room for classes, improved toilet facilities, a fully accessible changing space and a meeting room.

“We anticipate the whole of phase one costing just under £300k. For us to complete the project, there is a lot of work still to do and more money to raise. If anyone can help in any way, with either time or money, we’d be very grateful.

“We are going to need a small army of volunteers to help with the project - from researching what equipment we need to buy, to mucking in with labour, to helping with fundraising or becoming a trustee to help lead this exciting project.

“We’d love to hear from anyone with skills to share. Penistone Leisure Centre has been run by the community, for the community since it was taken over from BMBC in 2012, and thanks to the support of our fantastic trustees, volunteers and the community we’re going from strength to strength, but there’s always more to do.”

The money secured from EPIP means work can start in the near future and will be complete by this time next year.

The EPIP funding, along with the section 106 money, covers the bare bones of the work and further grant applications are in progress, along with more fundraising to do, in order to find enough money to cover cosmetic works such as plastering, decorating and furnishing the spaces.

There are further plans for the future of Penistone Leisure Centre in phase two to landscape the grounds to install accessible ramps to the centre and improve parking - some funding is already secured for this but there more to find.

Phase three will be to build an extension to the centre to provide another room for classes and more toilets and showers.