Now We Are Ten!

Fishguard Leisure Centre is celebrating its 10th birthday.

The popular centre has seen 1.7 million visits since it opened in November 2005.

To mark its anniversary the centre is running a series of special offers this month to encourage even more local people to keep fit and active.

These include free fitness suite inductions, a free first month for new annual members and free class tasters with inductions.

“We congratulate Fishguard Leisure Centre on reaching its milestone birthday,” said Councillor Elwyn Morse, Cabinet Member for Sport and Leisure.

“Since the centre opened 10 years ago it has gone from strength to strength,” he said.

“It now boasts more than 1,100 members and offers customers 38 adult and 31 junior classes in a wide range of activities every week.

“As well as providing a centre of fitness and activity for the people of north Pembrokeshire, it is also a popular community hub and has become an essential part of the life of the town.”

Fishguard Leisure Centre opened in November 2005 on a site next to Ysgol Bro Gwaun. The £4.3m building includes a 25-metre swimming pool, plus a learner pool, a multi- purpose sports hall, a fitness centre, dance room and changing areas.

Since its opening there have been a number of developments including the building of a nearby astro turf pitch, which has seen a further increase in the number of clubs using the centre.

Now the building is used by a huge range of sports clubs from football, hockey, netball and badminton to archery – the centre’s longest running club is the Fort Archers Club.

As well as being home to Fishguard Flyers, its swimming pool is used by 13 local schools and offers 67 learn-to-swim lessons throughout the week attended by over 450 children.

Meanwhile the fitness suite was refurbished in 2011 to provide state of the art Technogym equipment.

Leisure Services Officer Gary Nicholas said it had been a pleasure to celebrate 10 years of service to Fishguard.

“After 10 years we’re in really good shape to face the future but we could not have done it without the hard work and effort of our staff, both present and past,” he said.

“Many of the children who use the centre have gone on to work here and many of our staff have developed careers here.

“For instance Lisa Williams and Lisa Starkey started off as leisure attendants and now play a fundamental role in the development of the facility as duty officers, while receptionist Jodie Murphy has also become a swimming and dance teacher, playing a key role in our children’s programmes.”

The centre has also gained two prestigious accolades. In 2011 it was awarded the status of Quest Highly Commended for continuous improvement in Leisure Centre Management. Meanwhile, in 2013 it was recognised by UK active Flame awards as being one of the top three fitness management operations in the UK.

For more information about the special offers please contact the centre on 01437 775504.

Caption

Leisure Services Officer Gary Nicholas is pictured with three of the four staff members who have been with the leisure centre from the very beginning. L-R: Jodie Murphy, Lisa Williams and Lisa Starkey. Not pictured is long running class instructor, Christine Higgins.