Tameside Wellness Centre 'will help lead borough's health and wellbeing recovery'

As their flagship leisure centre marks its first anniversary on Tuesday (2 March), Active Tameside's chief executive says the Tameside Wellness Centre will have a pivotal role in addressing the borough's health inequalities during the Covid recovery.

The state-of-the-art health and wellbeing hub on Lance Corporal Andrew Breeze Way in Denton opened its doors ahead of schedule on 2 March 2020. 

Alongside an eight-lane 25 metre swimming pool - designed to replace the 45-year-old Denton Swimming Baths - 60-plus station gym and fitness studio and spa facilities, Tameside Wellness Centre has attractions such as a 10-pin bowling alley and soft play zone, a café, community meeting rooms and a social interaction space.

Described as the 'jewel in the crown' of Tameside Council's £20 million investment in the borough's leisure facilities, together with support from Sport England, it is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the trust which operates community leisure centres, attractions and wellbeing programmes on behalf of the local authority.

The bowling alleys at Tameside Wellness Centre

Despite being forced to close less than three weeks after opening due to the first wave of the pandemic, it safely reopened in the summer and again in December following the second enforced lockdown in November.

Not only has it proved to be hugely popular with residents, the centre has also been shortlisted for the Greater Manchester Chamber Building of the Year Award 2020.

Chris Rushton, Active Tameside’s chief executive, said it's now vital to build on the momentum created since the opening, with Tameside Wellness Centre having a significant part to play in the borough’s Covid recovery.

He said: “The pandemic has shone a light on the importance of both physical exercise and social interaction and there can be no doubt that the Wellness Centre will be in the vanguard of the movement to address health inequalities within the borough in the post pandemic world.

“The Wellness Centre exemplifies a holistic approach to the health and wellbeing of Tameside residents.

“From the outset, an ‘active by design’ philosophy was adopted with regard to the mix of facilities in terms of their desirability, practicality and equality of access." 

Active Tameside chief executive Chris Rushton

He went on: “More than anything else however, it is the programming of its products and spaces that sets the Wellness Centre apart.

“The aspiration to support residents in ‘living their best lives’ means that no one is excluded or to put it another way, there is literally something for everyone.

“On behalf of the trust, I’d like to thank everyone who has been a part of the Wellness Centre journey so far, including members, visitors and staff.

“It’s been a challenging year for many but, as demonstrated across all our centres, this great community is centric to everything we do and allows us to continue to have a far-reaching impact on the borough’s health and wellbeing.”

During the last 12 months, the centre has welcomed over 3,900 fitness and swimming lessons members, hosted more than 63,000 sessions across gym, swim, spa and classes and 796 soft play sessions.

A swimming pool at the centre 

It is hoped that its roof space will be transformed into a sensory garden and open-air exercise and wellbeing area later this year.

Disabled access is installed throughout along with IFI accredited fitness equipment and changing room adaptations to ensure accessibility is no barrier to the wide range of opportunities it offers.

Active Tameside will be marking the centre’s first anniversary virtually via its social media channels, including on Facebook, which can be found here: https://en-gb.facebook.com/activetameside

Those who have visited the centre will be encouraged to join in by sharing their first-year memories.

Active Tameside will also be posting a specially created video to thank everyone for their incredible support so far.

There are plans to share further celebrations with members and users once the Wellness Centre has reopened, including a day of fitness and wellbeing activities when it is safe to do so.

Following last week's government announcement regarding the cautious easing of lockdown restrictions, Active Tameside say it hopes to safely reopen gyms and pools on 12 April, followed by group exercise classes on 17 May, in line with Covid secure protocols.

For more information about the Wellness Centre, click here. 

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