Penistone Leisure Centre

Led by the community - For the community

renovation update

Refurbishment Update- Martin’s Video Walk Through!

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Here’s a video taken last weekend by one of our volunteers Martin!

It shows the huge progress that has been made in the recent weeks. Thank you so much to all our brilliant volunteers who have been turning out every weekend to help paint/clean/shift equipment around the centre.

As you can see from the video we are making massive progress. The whole of the sports hall is now painted, but just awaiting the panelling around the lower parts of the walls.

The corridors and side rooms are well underway with painting and skirting boards, and flooring in these areas has been going down this week. The Cardio room of the gym should be finished by the coming weekend, so we should be able to reopen that next week too.

The reception and skate store counters have now been installed (thank you to the Talbot Trusts and Better Barnsley Bond for their contributions to the cost of these) so you can really get a feel for the fantastic space we have now!

Thanks of course to EPIP and BMBC Section 106 for funding the majority of the internal restructuring/refurbishments.

Keep your eyes peeled for a further post about our re-opening and classes…

Big Progress on Painting the Sports Hall!

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We are very excited today, to see the progress that the painters are making in the main sports hall! The hall is being given a coat of fresh light grey, and we think you’ll agree, it’s starting to look much better!

The painters have been using a cherry picker and commercial paint spraying system to quickly and easily sort the complicated ceiling and walls and pipework.

You may notice that the old green remains around the bottom of the hall walls- this is because eventually it is going to be covered by scuff-proof panelling to protect the lower parts of the walls from roller skates/sports damage. We’ll also be painting chevrons in the centre’s colour scheme above the panels to indicate the direction of flow around the hall for skating sessions etc.

Many thanks to those of you who donated towards the painting of the hall- we didn’t raise the full amount that we needed, but your donations have decreased the amount we have to borrow to complete the works- so huge ‘Thank you!’.

What do you think? Let us know!

We still don’t have a definitive re-opening date for classes just yet, as it is reliant on getting the flooring in the corridors and new toilets finished. There is also a lot of work to do around making the centre ‘Covid Secure’ before we can allow the public back in. But we’ll keep you posted! We are trialling opening the gym to instructors and volunteers over the next couple of weeks, then the public after that. It will be a booking-only system and reduced hours for now, so please don’t just turn up!

We’ll be having another’ volunteer work weekend’ this Saturday 25th July from 10am-1pm (then a break for chips!) and 2-4pm and Sunday 26th July 10am-2pm. If you fancy coming along to see where we’re up and to lend a hand, we’d love to welcome you!

This Week’s Update!

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It’s been another busy week here at Penistone Leisure Centre! The Volunteers had a busy weekend decorating more of the hallways and lifting the old lino flooring in the office ready for the new floor coverings to go down! Huge ‘Thank you!’ to all our volunteers who have given their time so far!

The builders have been busy too! The front of the Centre is looking smart and fresh now that the new tarmac has been laid to complete the ramp access. This work has been funded by the 4Good Fund and the Co-operative, so a huge thanks to them. Unfortunately we can’t afford to tarmac the whole car park at present as quotes were upwards of £20k.

Our builders have also been busy installing fire escape ramps from the Gym and from the new cafe room and will be knocking through the new fire escape doors from the cafe this week too.

This is bringing us towards the end of the works that have been funded by EPIP and BMBC Section 106 Fund. BUT there are a tonne of finishing off jobs to do, and we won’t be able to open until they are done- so we’ll be down at the centre from 10am-1pm and 2-4pm on Saturday and 10-2 on Sunday doing jobs if you can spare a few hours to help? Let us know!

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.

Changes to Daytime Gym From Next Week!

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Please note that PLC will be CLOSED IN THE DAY TIME of Monday and Tuesday 24th & 25th of February (this coming Monday/Tuesday) to allow us to finish getting the new back room gym ready to host temporary classes/gym/office. Please note that early morning classes/gym 6-7:30am and evening classes/gym and weekend parties/classes/gym are UNAFFECTED.

This unfortunately means there will be NO SQUATS WITH TOTS this Tuesday (25th Feb), but we hope to be back on and organised for the following week, when it will be moved temporarily into the new back room gym space.

Please don’t forget that PenActive is temporarily moving to St Aidan’s Church at Oxspring (S36 8ZZ) for the next 6 weeks- on Tuesdays at 1:30-3:30pm (same time as usual!).

From Wednesday 26th February- In order to still provide facilities for weekday gym users, there will be access to limited gym equipment in the day times for around 6 weeks whilst the builders are working. We are providing the following equipment in the new back room which will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during usual daytime gym hours.

  • Cross Trainer
  • Wave Machine
  • Rowing Machine
  • Free Weights
  • Excercise Bike

This equipment will be available to use for the reduced price of £1.50/session. To access the back room gym, please walk around the right hand side of the centre and enter via the door on the corner of the new gym. Staff/Volunteers will be in there to assist/take payment.

Early Mornings (6-7:30am) Evenings and Weekends are unaffected, and classes/gym will go ahead as usual!

We are doing extra cleaning whilst the builders are working and they are utilising dust extraction machines too, to minimise the dirt.

All of this plan is subject to us getting the back room decorated in time! Our team of volunteers will be working between 10am-4pm on Saturday/Sunday to make sure we’re looking smart and tidy in the new back room.

Would you be able to volunteer for similar painting days in the future? Drop us a message to put your name on the list for other weekends!

We promise some lovely CAKE breaks!