Wellington Health & Fitness News - Winter 2022

WINTER

NEW-LOOK CLUB NEWS FOR A NEW YEAR

This is the first of our new-look newsletters which will come out quarterly (early March, June, and September in 2023). These newsletters are for you, so please let me know if there’s anything we can include that will make the community feel more connected.

2022 has been an interesting year with many reasons to celebrate. We had a glorious summer for the outdoor pool, our fabulous gym refurbishment (thank you again for your patience), Mark dropping below 100kg, DJ Paul blasting out some cracking tunes on the spin bikes, and the Club keeping Cadbury’s in business by selling more hot chocolates than ever.

For me, the highlight is our members. We’ve welcomed new faces to the Club and extend a massive thank you to all existing members for staying with us.

It's our pleasure to keep welcoming you through our doors. Seeing you all making that commitment to your physical and mental wellbeing is a huge reward for all the team.

The Team here at Wellington hope this season of goodwill is a chance for you and your loved ones to get together and enjoy some real festive cheer.

Club Christmas opening hours

Why not balance the mince pie intake with a few visits to the Club over the festive period ? Here are the opening hours from 23rd December to Monday 2nd January. On page 2 of this newsletter you’ll find a short home workout you can do when we’re closed, if you fancy ! Whatever you choose to do, keep healthy and have a fabulous time.

23rd December 6.30am-9pm Christmas Eve 8am-4pm Christmas Day Closed Boxing Day Closed Christmas Bank Holiday 8am-4pm 28th December 8am-8pm 29th December 8am-8pm 30th December 8am-8pm New Year’s Eve 8am-4pm New Year’s Day Closed Bank Holiday 2nd January 8am-4pm

Back to normal hours from Tuesday 3rd January.

Classes and pool timetables

Timetables for our group exercise classes and the pool are available on the Club app and website.

Noticed a change to your Direct Debit?

If you pay your membership by Direct Debit, you may have noticed that your payments now go to “Wellington College Services Ltd”. This is due to a simple trading name change (from Wellington College Enterprises Limited). There’s no change to the way we do things and this won’t affect you, but if you have any questions ask any of the team..

Get social with Wellington H&F

Davis Commercial Manager, Wellington Health & Fitness Club

Did you know we’re on all the major social media platforms ? You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where you’ll see news, familiar faces, and some behind-the-scenes fun. Also don’t forget about the Wellington Club app (did you know that over 90% of our bookable activities are completed on the app ?)

Ian

HEALTHY CHRISTMAS FITNESS

TIPS

& TRICKS

How to stay active at home

As you can see from our opening hours at the start of this newsletter, we are shut on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day. Whilst a few days off from the gym, pool or courts won’t change a thing, we know that some of you like to keep moving. Here are our top 3 ways to stay active when the Club is closed.

1. A long brisk walk – bundle up and head outside with family, with the dog, or by yourself and enjoy all the benefits of a good walk. Walking is fantastic exercise for your legs, lungs, and heart health, and it’s a great way to stay on top of stress levels.

2. A home workout – you don’t need a home gym to get an effective workout at home. Combine bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges,push ups and planks to get your heart rate up and work all the major muscle groups.

3. Outdoor exercise – our beautiful countryside offers so many ways to be active outdoors, and Christmas can be a great time to exercise with visiting family. Cycle, mountain bike, jog, or play a makeshift game of football. It’s all exercise !

If you choose to totally relax over the Christmas week, the Club will be there ready and waiting for you when you come back.

Treat yourself to Personal Training

Personal Training can help you reach your goals more quickly than working out alone. Our Level 3 qualified coaches all offer Personal Training in the gym and Qube, and you will be able to track your progress. When you work with a PT, they create a bespoke programme to help you work towards your goals in the safest and most effective way. Your sessions will be tailored to your abilities, and as the weeks go on you will achieve more than you could have imagined, Why not invest in Personal Training for 2023? You can buy a book of 10 sessions or 5 sessions

or individual sessions. The book of 10 tickets costs £450 and you get one free session – so 11 for the price of 10. A book of 5 is £191.25 (a 15% discount). Individual sessions are £45 each. If you’re interested in personal training speak to Lana, Nikki, Ellie, Gabriel or Megan.

10 festive fitness tips from Lana

1. Drink more water than usual, it helps with everything from sleep to digestion

2. Eat more fibre to aid digestion (vegetables, fruits, wholegrain foods) 3. Have a one pudding - not five (choose the thing you really love)

4. If you want some sweets or chocolates, take a small handful not the tin 5. Eat more slowly by chewing your food properly 6. Make sure you get enough protein in every meal to fill you up 7. Stay active (a 30-minute workout is good, walk to friends and family if they’re up to 2 miles away, or borrow a dog to walk!)

8. If you drink alcohol, have a glass of water in between and don’t get drunk 9. Burn calories in fun ways by dancing, laughing and hugging your loved ones 10. You’ll digest food better if you go for a walk after a meal rather than sitting on the sofa. Bonus tip:

SPORTS REPORT

GOLF

Success at the members’ golf morning, 2nd November

Squash is a fun and exhilarating racquet game. Would you like to give it a go?

We’re looking for squash players aged 9-18 – and offering a free 6-week introduction course. The free sessions will run for 6 weeks from Sunday 8th January to Sunday 12th February 2023, between 9.30am to 11.00am. There will be coaching available from Wellington’s professional coach and from experienced players.

If you know anyone who would like to try the wonderful game, please email: juniors@WellingtonSquash.com by Wednesday 4th January for more information. The Wellington Squash Community look forward to hearing from you ! - Steve Meads

REAL TENNIS

Parent-Child Real Tennis Competition 2022, 2nd October

Part of the winning team - Scott Nettleton and Ian Lockwood.

16 Club members enjoyed another great day on the challenging 9-hole Wellington golf course. We enjoyed excellent conditions for the teams of three (one four-ball !)

This time we played a "Shambles", where all the players on each team drive and then choose the best drive for their second shots, playing their own ball to finish the hole.

The scores were close ! The winning team was Scott Nettleton, Ian Lockwood and Nikki Vincent. The best individual score was awarded to Ultan Kenny helped by his teammate Guy's drives. Look out for our next event in Spring 2023. - Nikki Vincent

SQUASH

Free 6-week squash intro course for players aged 9-18, 8th January - 12th February Squash has been an integral part of Wellington for years. We have a really active Squash community, with our own club leagues and 5 teams that regularly play in County leagues. We are the largest participating Squash Club in Berkshire.

The Parent Child competition is always a great event, and this year’s event didn’t disappoint. In a close round-robin format, the youngsters raised their game to new heights competing in an official club competition. Mark and Finn Harris managed to hold off David And Saffron Enticknap in the final, and they can now look forward to getting their names up on the honours board.

World Class Real Tennis at Wellington

On 7th October, world-class Real Tennis graced the William Maltby Court - a fabulous evening for Wellington to host such fine players.

Max Trueman (junior world champion) faced Bertie Vallat (junior world finalist) and Rob Fahey (world champion) faced Ben Taylor Matthews (world no.4).

Fancy playing Hangover Doubles?

To welcome 2023, we’d like to run a hangover doubles competition on Monday 2nd January. We’re looking for 6-8 pairs… who’s in ? The format will be lots of fun, with a rolling handicap and a mystery prize for the champions! To enter or to find out more please email Danny Jones at DPJ@wellingtonfitness.co.uk .

SPORTS REPORT

TENNIS

Annual Tennis Club Morning Tournament, 19th November

Tennis Teams

Ladies teams - our four teams play throughout the winter ! As we approach year end, the 1st team are joint first in their league and the 3rds and 4ths are in a closely contested league with a match in hand. Mens team - we play in the Berkshire Winter League Division 5 East and are currently midtable. We’ve also been running indoor sessions on Saturday evenings and are keen to welcome new players who want to play competitive tennis.

Mixed teams - after a very successful summer, including a very popular over 60s, we’ve had a good start to the winter league. The first match had to be postponed, but we’re hoping to drag players out over Christmas to play in the snow !

Winners, Angela Wilson and Tom Williams receive their trophy from Commercial Manager, Ian Davis. Unseasonably good weather helped to make this an enjoyable and closely contested tournament. Despite getting off to a rocky start, Angela Wilson and partner Tom Williams won all of their remaining games to take the title.

If you enjoy social tennis and consider yourself an improver or ‘intermediate’ player you’ll enjoy Wednesday Club Morning from 9.30-11.00. For more information email John Lovegrove: john@simplegraphics.co.uk

Christmas Mince Pies Tennis Tournament, Tuesday 27th December, 10am - 1pm Take a rest from the relatives and leftover turkey. Spend the morning with your club chums instead and enjoy mince pies, sausage rolls and a glass or two of mulled wine.

With an emphasis on fun, this popular doubles round robin annual tennis tournament is for intermediate/ advanced players. Entry deadline is 20th December. To enter, email Denise Ware: dmw3108@btinternet.com

Members of the ladies tennis teams with their ‘gorgeous’ coach, Mike Wyeth.

2022

WINTER 2022

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PROFILE ON KATY

Lifeguard and Recreation Assistant

Before Katy Hammans touched down at Wellington Health and Fitness in June 2022, she’d been flying all around the world for 17 years as long-haul cabin crew. From Calgary to California, Cape Town to Cairo, perhaps it was pre-destined that she'd end up in Crowthorne!

Katy was an exceptionally sporty child and spent her early years living just outside Perth in Western Australia where she learned to swim in her backyard and took regular junior Surf Lifeguard lessons !

A move to The Netherlands prompted Katy to take up the national sport of hockey -and any other sport she could try her hand at. By the time she went to University, Katy was a keen rower and tennis player, so it was inevitable that she'd go on to get a degree in Sport and Physical Education from the University of Birmingham.

After University, the travel bug came back to bite her and so Katy began her long career with British Airways. Her favourite destination was and always will be Phoenix, Arizona.

As global lockdown restrictions lifted, Katy felt it was the perfect time to change direction. Her son was swimming here regularly (taught by Ben and Georgia) so Katy quickly spotted the fulltime vacancy for a lifeguard. The rest is history !

Katy - remembering her high life days as a member of British Airways long-haul cabin crew.

Who would you like us to profile in the next edition of clubnews ?

Our gym facility is refurbished every five years, and this time around we had the opportunity to make it a much larger project. We chose to partner with industry leaders Technogym for their innovative equipment and advice. We think they helped us create a gym that caters for everyone, from tech-savvy students to our sports-focused members. We hope you agree !

The refurbishment allowed us to make significant changes to the space and layout, with new sound, lighting and interior design creating a more dynamic atmosphere. We also made use of the pre-existing balcony space as a track for conditioning work and Personal Training. Another excellent new addition is Technogym Mywellness app, which enables us to offer you regularly updated motivating and educational fitness content that supports our blended learning approach.

We know there are plenty of other gyms near Crowthorne and we’re proud of this ambitious refurbishment which makes us competitive with other facilities in the area. Fitness Manager, Sam Simmons led the selection of equipment and carefully chose traditional gym kit and the most technically-advanced equipment for a mix of strength, performance, and everyday fitness. We now have a versatile mix of Technogym products, including two Technogym Artis Climb and a full selection of Skill line products, which offer multi-use cardio and conditioning functions with advanced digital connectivity. The Unity resistance range with its interactive challenge is proving popular, and we’ve got plate-loaded weights machines for the first time in the club’s history. The gym floor also features two Dual Action Pulleys and a four-station cable machine to give you all plenty of workout options.

Through our partnership with Technogym, we’ve been able to create a top-class fitness facility with a wide range of top equipment, advanced digital solutions, and future-proof technology. We’ve already noticed that members are attending more often than they used to and getting healthier as a result. We welcome your feedback !

THE STORY BEHIND OUR NEW 21st CENTURY GYM

Technogym equipment is designed in an intuitive way that makes it easy to use.

” “

ARCHIVE

The fascinating history of Wellington’s outdoor pool

During most summers, Wellington’s expansive outdoor pool is busy with the College’s hardcore ‘Maniacs’ group doing their two lengths before breakfast, students enyoying a refreshing dip before dinner and those lucky Club members cooling down after a hard day’s work. With its record temperatures, the summer of 2022 was no exception.

In the summer months, our Club members are privileged to have access to this unique outdoor pool set it the secluded, natural surroundings of the College grounds.

When Wellington College was built in the 1850s, a series of lakes were created from the marshy ground nearby, by means of dams and excavations. The lowest of these was designated ‘the Bathing Lake’, and was always popular (despite its muddy bottom and murky green colour !) The changing facilities were also rudimentary, as this letter to the Wellingtonian in 1881 reveals: ‘May we venture to suggest in your valued columns, that some improvement be made in the flooring, if it may be so called, of our bathing shed. At least in the removing of the long nails that are occasionally trodden on by naked feet, or, in the filling up of the numerous holes, in which many ankles are mercilessly twisted. Another melancholy example of a wound caused by a rusty nail has occurred which has tempted us to write and we beg to sign ourselves - ‘A CHORUS OF LACERATED BATHERS.’

Improvements happened, but slowly. In 1884 part of the lake had the sides and bottom cemented, and in 1911 a new changing room finally arrived. At last, in 1934, the present pool with its full concrete construction and water filtration plant was opened.

The ‘General Bathe’ - when all were allowed in the pool - was a Wellington tradition for many years, even occasionally happening on Speech Day. It could, however, be daunting to the uninitiated. In 1962 an article in the Wellingtonian entitled ‘My First General Bathe’ described the experience: ‘the surface... was just a flying sheet of spray. I reached it, but just as I was inhaling deep breaths of air, someone, doing a fast crawl, bumped into me, and I went under again... The next ten minutes were thorough hell. I was ducked, kicked, splashed, jumped on, surfaced under and 'run over'. By the end of it I had learnt to stay under-water as long as I could, because it seemed safest there.’

For most of the twentieth century, outdoor swimming was the only swimming option at Wellington. An indoor pool built in 1880 was closed during the First World War and never reopened, while the present Fisher Pool did not open until 1980.

Wellingtonians had no choice but to be a hardy bunch; but nowadays there are many who voluntarily brave the chilly waters each morning of the summer half-term for no greater reward than a Mars Bar.

Lets hope that we have another good summer in 2023 for Club members to enjoy Crowthorne’s best kept secret !

INVINCIBLES

Who are the Wellington Invincibles?

The Invincibles are a group of people aged 50+ who share an interest in playing sports with likeminded Wellington Health and Fitness members. We meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for sports and classes including badminton, racketball, short mat bowls, table tennis, tennis, and short tennis. Tennis coaching is provided on Friday mornings in the Robin Dyer centre. Invincibles also have our own exercise classes, doing aerobics, pilates, yoga, and line dancing.

A committee of members organise our core sporting activities, plus social events and even holidays throughout the year. We’ve been on theatre trips, visits to places of interest, held quiz nights, and some of us meet every month for a walk (which usually includes a pub lunch).

Highlights from 2022 included a trip to the West End to see the Drifters Girl musical, a week’s walking holiday in Shropshire, a holiday to St. Malo, a visit to Hampton Court, Sonning Mill theatre, a holiday at Warners Leisure hotel on Hayling Island, a week of sports at the Sporting Manor hotel in Okehampton, the Weald and Downland museum, and a trip on the Waverley Paddle Steamer.

As you can see, The Invincibles offer a great opportunity to make new friends, get active, see new things, and socialise in the Fives Café. We currently have fabulous 430 members and are ready to welcome more ! If you’d like to join us, email Barry Cuming at bcuming@hotmail.com

The Invincibles see the Repair Shop’s Christmas episode filmed

On the 29th September a group of Invincibles enjoyed a day out at the 50-acre Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The day started with a private tour of the workshop and store that houses some of the 16,000 items in the artefacts collection (plenty of memories of tools that our grandparents used !)

The Downland Gridshell is one of a small number of gridshell structures in Britain, and its design and method of construction are unique. The Gridshell has the shape and strength of a double-curvature shell, made of a grid of oak laths instead of a solid surface. The diagonal grid was formed flat on a supporting scaffold, then the edges were gradually lowered and the grid bent into shape until the shell was formed and secured to the timber platform.

The museum site houses a Tudor farmstead and areas devoted to craft and industries, early dwellings, a market square area, rural homes, stables, the Victorian era and a working woodyard. The Court Barn, is better known as the BBC’s Repair Shop, and we were fortunate to catch the filming of the Christmas episode. We spoke to the Teddy Bear ladies Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch who told us it took two weeks to produce the one-hour show !

Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch

Downland Gridshell

INVINCIBLES

80th and 90th Birthday Party

On 30th September we celebrated some more significant birthdays in the 5’s Cafe.

This time we were celebrating with Don Burnside (90), Bob Findlow (80) and David Hurst (80).

Invincibles Diary

We’re already planning events for 2023 with trips to the Royal Albert Hall to see Cirque du Soleil in January, followed by a tour of Wimbledon later in the year.

Four holidays have also been organised.

May - Selworthy, Somerset

A walking holiday in May to , using HF Holidays’ facilities.

June - Peak District

Includes sightseeing at Chatsworth House, a boat trip through Speedwell Caverns, a visit to Jodrell Bank Observatory, Haddon House, home

August - Warners Leisure Hotel at Sinah Warren, Hayling Island

A weeks holiday is being organised at this adult only venue with plenty of activities - from its heated outdoor pool, to giant chess in the garden, a spa and tennis courts.

September - Manor Hotel, Okehampton

Invincibles return to the hotel which provides an extensive range of indoor and outdoor activities.

How to book

More information about these holidays and our other activities will follow in the next issue of clubnews but you can also book your place and catch up with the latest news by visiting the Invicibles notice board and on our website at www.invincibles.org

WELLINGTON IN THE COMMUNITY

Wellington in the community

Wellington College commercial activities help generate funds that support children in Berkshire, particularly in Bracknell Forest and Wokingham. In the last academic year, we supported 12 primary schools with grants of £25,000 each. These were put to good use according to the schools’ own priorities – in many cases, to develop outside space and fitness areas. A further nine schools received £5,000

As the crisis in Ukraine continues, and mindful of the wellbeing effects of exercise, we are pleased to be welcoming 14 refugees from Ukraine to the Club at a subsidised membership rate. These individuals are being hosted some by our members and by other families in the local area.

Now recruiting: Fitness Instructors, Swim Teachers, Recreation Assistant

Do you know anyone who would like to start their leisure and fitness career at Wellington? We’re looking for two full-time Fitness Instructors, two Swim Teachers, and one fulltime Recreation Assistant.

Applicants don’t need to be fully qualified – we can help out with that. We’re looking for people with personality, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. We can offer apprenticeships for the specific roles - you provide the smiles and enthusiasm.

If you or anyone you know wants to start a new career, we’d be delighted to hear from you. (Of course, if you are qualified we would welcome your application too !)

Email hello@wellingtonfitness.co.uk and put LET’S CHAT as the header.

What’s on in the local area?

Here’s a brief round-up of active, sporty, and outdoorsy events in the local area over the

festive period:

21st December

Yule Magic in the Woods, Goring Heath

23rd & 24th December

Swim, SUP, Sail, Bray Lake Watersports

25th December

Christmas Day Parkrun, Dinton Pastures

26th December

Boxing Day Swim & SUP, Caversham Lakes 29th December

Family Race Day, Newbury Racecourse

Until 6th January Garter Tower Illuminations, Windsor Castle

clubnews is for you, our members, to keep you informed, connected, and entertained.

Do let us know what you think, and what you’d like to see next time. We welcome suggestions, features, and contributions.

Email hello@wellingtonfitness.co.uk with CLUBNEWS as the subject line.

WELLINGTON

HEALTH & FITNESS CLUB

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