Leisure centre boost following Olympics (From Warrington Guardian)

Leisure centre boost following Olympics

1:15pm Thursday 30th August 2012 in News

Orford Jubilee Hub is just one of the centres that has seen a rise in the number of people taking part in Olympic sports

A POST London 2012 rush is seeing residents clamour to try Olympic sports at the town’s leisure centres.

Since the close of the Olympic Games earlier this month bosses at Live Wire, the company that runs leisure services in Warrington, has reported sell out swimming sessions and now has a waiting list of 300 children for gymnastics.

A free sport taster day takes place across the six Live Wire centres on Sunday to capitalise on the Paralympics.

Inquiries about family memberships have been so high at the new Orford Park that that it has brought in a new family membership pack while the doors will soon open at 6am to accommodate demand.

Jan Souness runs the Live Wire organisation from Orford Park.

She said: “There has been a noticeable rise in demand for Olympic sports in the area over the past four to six weeks which is fantastic but we want even more people in the town to get fit, healthy and active. That is why we’re putting on this very special event.”

Activities on offer include tennis, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, trampolining, badminton and football between 10am and 4pm on Sunday.

Sessions will run at Birchwood Leisure and Tennis Complex, Benson Road, Broomfields Leisure Centre, Appleton , Culcheth Community Campus, Warrington Road, Great Sankey Leisure Centre, Barrow Hall Lane and Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub, Jubilee Way.

Since the Olympic closing ceremony the rush has seen the following increase in attendance: l At Orford Park, the hub is reaching its maximum capacity for every public session in both swimming pools day in, day out.

• Bridgewater Volleyball Club, which is based at the new hub, has extended its regular session on a Wednesday evening to accommodate the spike in junior interest.
• The centre in Great Sankey re-opened its gymnastics waiting list at the end of July and there are now more than 300 children on it.
• Badminton usage at Culcheth has increased by 48 per cent for the period July 1 to August 12 against the same period in 2011.
• At Birchwood Leisure and Tennis Centre outdoor tennis has seen an increase of more than 30 per cent.