Penistone Leisure Centre

Led by the community - For the community

EPIP

We May Be Down, But We’re Not Out!

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It was a really tough decision to close the Leisure Centre to the public. It’s come at a time that we need the income more than ever to successfully complete the renovation project, however the health of our community, volunteers and staff will always be the most important thing!

The Leisure Centre team are working hard behind the scenes to ensure that the project doesn’t stall whilst we’re closed, and that we are helping in our community where we can safely do so.

Are you able to volunteer to help out in the community? Please see the fantastic new website being set up by local graphic/web designer Richard Morton (of Elbowroom Graphics) which is going to be the hub of all local information and a source of giving/receiving help within the community-

www.lovethypenistone.co.uk

This website has been set up with the help/support of Penistone Round Table and various other community groups/town councillors. We hope to channel some of our volunteers who currently have some free time on their hands, into helping with this! Please sign up to help if you can, or be helped if you need it. We are also looking to co-ordinate volunteers to do a leaflet drop with information on how to ask for help for members of our community who don’t use the internet. So if you could deliver some leaflets, please sign up on the website and let us know you can help! There is also information available on the website about how we can support our local businesses through this tough time.

In other positive news- JSD Construction’s work continues at Penistone Leisure Centre on the refurbishment! Do keep watching out for our newsletter posts on our website and social media to see how the project is coming together!

Here’s a snapshot of what they are up to today- Busy cutting through the wall in the main hall to widen the gap to create what will be the waiting area.

You can see, in this corner of the hall the new viewing windows which have been cut into the walls (where the wooden panels and red plastic are!). We’re definitely in the ‘make it look worse before it looks better’ stage, but it’s becoming clear how the centre will function so much better once work is complete!

This work is being completed thanks for funding and support from EPIP (East Peak Innovation Partnership), Section 106 at Barnsley council and many other funders – please see our thanks page.

Some Fantastic News for Penistone!

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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!

Where’s the Money Coming From?

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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

Some Great News!

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After months of hard work, we are delighted to announce that we have three bits of great news!

Firstly, we have been granted a 30 year lease of our building from BMBC! This gives us the security to progress the plans for Penistone Leisure Centre. Until this recent approval, we had been operating with a ‘tenancy at will’, which always meant we weren’t able to make longer term plans. Thankfully this new security allows us to progress our big refurbishment project!

Secondly, we have been granted planning permission to make the changes we have planned to the Leisure Centre! Fantastic news, which means the dream can really be a reality.

And thirdly, we’ve been awarded £60k of funding from Section 106!! Which is a nice big chunk of the money we need to get part 1 of our refurbishment plan underway! For those who don’t know how it works, the Section 106 Fund is money which has been sought from housing developers who have built new homes in the area. The money is then allocated in order to maintain or improve community amenities which may experience increased pressure by the addition of the homes.

We have also now submitted our application for £166,000 of funding from EPIP (East Peak Innovation Partnership) which, if successful, will mean we have all the funding required to complete the layout and structural work of phase 1 of our development plan.

The funds are made up as follows;

  • £25k Blackstone Edge Community Wind Farm for energy efficiency improvements (secured)
  • £60k from Section 106 Fund from BMBC (secured)
  • £3k of our own funds (drawn from Leisure Centre Income and Fundraising)
  • £166K from EPIP (if successful)

We recently put the proposed works out to tender, with quotes coming back more expensive than we had anticipated. As such, we have had to remove certain aspects of the plan from this part of the project. We will now have to fund raise separately in a later project for; insulation, decoration, flooring, new toilets etc

SO we are STILL desperately fundraising, and ever in need of your support! Can you help? Could your business invest in the local community? Could you do a sponsored ‘something’ for us? Could you help us complete funding applications? Let us know…

You can donate to our ‘wonderful’ page HERE, or by contacting the centre directly.

Please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE, and help us spread the good news!