Stone’s brand new leisure facility is proving extremely popular with the local community since its opening at the beginning of April this year.
Freedom Leisure, who operate the site on behalf of Stafford Borough Council, is delighted to have seen the number of members increase by 70% in 10 weeks since opening; plus its learn to swim programme has enrolled over 200 new students, meaning it is currently supporting around 720 people to learn this crucial lifesaving skill!
Part of a £10 million project by Stafford Borough Council, the state-of-the-art community leisure facility features a 25 metre 6-lane swimming pool, 80 station fitness suit, high-end indoor cycling studio and two group exercise studios and also offers an Active Communities service to help engage and support inactive user groups.
Mike Worsnop, Freedom Leisure Head of Business Development and Active Communities, said: “We were delighted to have been selected by Stafford Borough Council as their leisure partner back in 2017, and at the time we knew that this brand new, high-spec facility was in the pipeline; so to now be at the helm is hugely exciting to say the least! Stafford Borough Council takes the wellbeing of their residents and visitors seriously, and this centre is a demonstration of their commitment to an active community!
“This facility is jam-packed with sport and fitness facilities and will greatly enhance the existing offering in Stone. The gym will feature some of the very best kit going, and the indoor cycling studio could rival some of the best boutique studios in London, while the fact there will be two fitness studios will mean the class timetable will be much more extensive.”
In partnership with the Stafford Borough Council, Freedom Leisure is invested an additional circa. £400k to ensure that the gym had the very best kit, the cycling studio is the best in and around Stafford, the two studios offer an extended Les Mills class timetable and there is a Costa Coffee Café and a shop selling Zoggs swim products.
Deputy Leader of Stafford Borough Council, Mike Smith, who has led on this project over recent years said “The council officers and myself worked hard to bring this fabulous facility to fruition and I am very pleased to hear how popular this new leisure centre has proved to be.
It was a huge investment in leisure in Stone and the number of local people that it has already attracted, in the short time it has been opened, demonstrates this was a facility the community needed.
We are proud that this multi million pound investment by the borough council reversed the usual national headlines of local authorities closing swimming pools and reducing their leisure offer to residents.”
To find out more about the centre’s facilities visit www.freedom-leisure.co.uk/stonelc
