Penistone Leisure Centre

Led by the community - For the community

Roller Scare-ing Party!

Leave a Comment

Tickets are on sale now for our Halloween Spooktactular Party on Thursday 31st October 2019 from 3:30-5:30pm- So plenty of time to go Trick-or-Treating afterwards too!

There will be lots of fun skating games, a fancy dress competition with prizes and party food! So get making your most imaginative costume and grab your tickets now!


Tickets cost £7 each (for adults or children- but if you just want to come along and spectate but not eat/join in, that’s free!) You can book your tickets by clicking here and filling in the form. Spaces are limited, so grab yours quick!

There won’t be any tickets available on the door as we need to know numbers in advance for catering, so please don’t leave it too late to book your tickets!

Some Fantastic News for Penistone!

Leave a Comment

Penistone Leisure Centre has been successful in it’s application for £166k of funding from East Peak Innovation Partnership (EPIP is European funding) towards Project 1 of our refurbishment. Along with £60k of money from BMBC’s Section 106 fund (money which housing developers set aside to improve local amenities) this grant means we have enough funds for the structure and core work of the refurbishment.

Our plans have been a long time in the making, and have been drawn up following a huge local survey, lots of talking to people and research.

Rachel Gibbons (Chair of the Board of Trustees) says-

‘This is fantastic news! We can now start to make huge changes to improve the centre for the whole community.”  

Project 1 of our refurbishment is the internal reorganisation of Penistone Leisure Centre to maximise the potential of the building and to make the centre 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 and views down the fields:

Watch our video to see what will probably be the first phase of the refurbishment.

There will be 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 hope you will be able to sit in the café with a drink and watch your skaters or other classes

The money secured from EPIP means work can start in the near future and Project 1 will be complete by this time next year. We will do the work in phases, one room at a time, so we can keep the centre open throughout. We are meeting with our contractor, John O’Connell from JSD Construction, and our volunteer project manager Mike France this week to plan out the works.

This plan shows what the layout of the Leisure Centre will be, once Phase 1 is complete.

Rachel, (Chair of the board of trustees) has worked tirelessly on this project and the funding applications needed to let it go ahead. Rachel has been the driving force for the project and we owe her a massive ‘Thank you!’ for her efforts for our community. It has taken a monumental amount of work to get the project to this stage and there’s a lot more to do yet!

There are further plans for the future of Penistone Leisure Centre. Project 2 will landscape the grounds to install accessible ramps to the centre and improve parking (some funding already secured for this, but more to find), and in Project 3 we will build an extension to the centre to provide another room for classes and more toilets/showers. See the plans HERE

Watch this space – or become a Friend of Penistone Leisure Centre to be the first to know!

Can You Help us Achieve Something Wonderful?

Leave a Comment

We anticipate the whole of Project 1 costing just under £300k. Rachel says – “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 lot of help and a small army of volunteers to assist with this project. Getting the main funding is the start, not the end!

Helping us ‘on the ground’

We will need people to do things 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! Do you have skills to share? This is your chance to get in on the ground floor of a very exciting project!

You can get in touch with us by contacting Nikki on 07526 253100 or [email protected] Or you can…

Become a friend of Penistone Leisure Centre

We are launching a ‘Friends of Penistone Leisure Centre’ Scheme and there are lots of ways to help! Sign up to become a Friend today and give something back to your community. If you’d like to find out more about becoming a friend, then why not come along on Sunday 27th October between 10am-12noon. There will be the usual skating session on and drinks/cakes will available. Rachel will be there to talk through the project, and we can give you the big ‘tour’!

Please donate to our project

EPIP’s funding, along with the section 106 money, covers the bulk of the work, the room changes, doors, walls etc, but it will be quite a bare bones finish. We have other grant applications in progress along with more fundraising to do, in order to find enough money to cover things such as insulation, the windows into the hall (pictured above), shelving and joinery, works such as plastering, decorating and furnishing the spaces.

Can you help us financially? You can send donations to our ‘Wonderful’ page and if you’re a UK tax payer, please tick the ‘gift aid’ box to add an extra 25% to your donation!

Or you can Become a Friend of Penistone Leisure Centre – as you can make a donation as part of the sign-up if you wish.

Where’s the Money Coming From?

Leave a Comment

Hugely ambitious plans need a lot of funding! You told us what you wanted for Penistone Leisure Centre, and we aim to deliver it. We have broken the work down into projects and applied to different funders for each part.

Below is a visual representation of the funding that we have already secured and money we still need to fundraise. As you can see, we’ve already raised well over half of what we need – 61% in fact, with 19% more we are hoping to raise from applications we have in progress. However, there’s that last 20% – so still a lot to do!

Funding has come from:

£166,000 from EPIP (East Peak Innovation Partnership) for Project 1 – for structure and core work

£60,000 from BMBC Section 106 for Project 1 – for structure and core work

£26,800 – Our own funds for preparation work

£2000 – Mayor’s fund in 2018 and 2019 towards preparation work and critical repairs

£4440 Public donations towards leaking roof

£25,000 from Blackstone Edge Wind Farm Community Benefits Fund – for energy efficiency works

£530 raised by Sponsored skate and £70 from cake bakes towards windows from hall to cafe

£10,000 towards landscaping at the front of the centre to make disabled access ramp

£2,078.53 Co-op- towards the disabled access ramp

£1000 from Ecclesiastical’s Movement for Good awards, towards project 1

Boost Your Skating Skills This October Holidays!

Leave a Comment

Been skating for a while, and want to get better? Want to learn cool tricks and skills? We have just the thing!

Why not try a beginners/intermediate level lesson on Friday 1st November from 11:30-1:30. You’ll cover all the basics and once you’ve got them down, then Rachel and Davy will teach the more impressive looking ways to stop and turn etc. Lessons cost £8 per person and are suitable for children aged 5+. The lesson spans lunch-time and there will be a break in the middle, so please bring along a packed lunch or you can buy snacks etc from the tuck shop!

Or if you’re already a confident skater, then why not book in for our Skate Challenge session on Sunday 27th October from 6-8pm? This session will include lots of games and competitions for competent skaters! Come and show us your skills!

Booking is essential for these sessions and you can reserve your space(s) HERE