Local leisure centre to welcome sporting heroes to anniversary event
Excitement is building ahead of Winchester Sport and Leisure Park’s first anniversary. To mark the occasion, a free celebratory event will be held on Saturday 21 May and Sunday 22 May.
Managed by Everyone Active in partnership with Winchester City Council, the Bar End based facility will celebrate with an open weekend that will be held from 10am – 4pm. A Big Splash event, as well as multiple free activities will be available for the local community to enjoy.
The local community is invited to join in with the fun alongside former Olympic athlete, Rebecca Adlington OBE, Commonwealth medallist and synchronised swimmer, Adele Carlsen, London 2012 Olympian and synchronised swimmer, Kate Skelton, British water polo goalkeeper Matt Holland, and British record holder and former Olympian in freestyle swimming, Grant Turner.
During the fun-filled event, visitors will have the opportunity to try out; public lane and family swimming, group fitness and cycling classes, access to the gym, top rock, squash, martial arts, pool inflatable, bouncy castle, racket sports, and freestyle football, hosted by Jamie Knight.
The ‘Big Splash’ event, which will be invite only, will take place from 12pm – 2pm. This event will be attended by children from local schools. Participants will be able to make a splash and try a number of aquatic based activities such as synchronised swimming, a Rookie Lifeguard course and ‘dive and glide’ sessions.
All activities throughout the day will be free to all, however the team are encouraging visitors to make a small £2 voluntary donation which will go towards Everyone Active’s chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support.
Cllr Martin Tod at Winchester City Council, said:
“We’re really looking forward to celebrating the one year anniversary of our hugely popular leisure park. The centre is fantastic, providing extraordinary benefits for the wellbeing of our residents – and with over 650,000 people walking through the doors in the last 12 months, we know that it’s being thoroughly enjoyed.
“There truly is something for everyone and this event with Olympian Becky Adlington is a chance not just to celebrate the building with its state-of the art facilities, but also all the people who have worked so hard to welcome so many new users and make the centre such a great success.”
Alison Norman, Area Contract Manager at Everyone Active, said:
“We’re so excited to welcome the local community along with some brilliant former and current Olympians to our Big Splash event. We’re celebrating one year since opening the new centre and it is a fitting way to celebrate that.
“The centre has played a pivotal part in helping the local community to improve their health and wellbeing. It will be great to see local families benefiting from all the fantastic facilities we have on offer.”