Revamped school gym brings fitness boost to community

There are now even more opportunities for pupils and the wider community in Morriston to stay fit and active thanks to a major upgrade of a school gymnasium.

The hall is jointly used by Morriston Comprehensive and the adjoining leisure centre but had seen better days and was ready for a much needed facelift.

With more than £120k investment the floor has been completely replaced and the whole area modernised making it more suitable for a range of sports, fitness classes and children’s activities.

Freedom Leisure, which manages the centre on behalf of Swansea Council, and the school both contributed towards the work and secured significant additional funds from Sport Wales.

The revamped gymnasium opened in time for the return of school and it has already proved a hit with more people using it.

Martin Franklin, headteacher at Morriston Comprehensive, said: “As a School we were delighted to work in partnership with Freedom Leisure and Sport Wales to provide the much-needed investment in our school gymnasium.

“The new refurbished gym provides a fantastic learning environment for our students and PE staff, and will be an excellent addition to the health and fitness provision for our local community in Morriston.”

Nic Beggs, Freedom Leisure’s Area Manager for Swansea, said: “This is just another example of where Freedom has worked in partnership with a school and key stakeholders to improve the leisure centres in Swansea.

“We were really pleased to be able to manage the project on everyone’s behalf and deliver it on time and on budget. The space has been transformed from a very tired looking hall to a state of the art indoor sports space which can be used for so many things.”

Sport Wales contributed £80,000 towards the project and CEO Brian Davies said: “The old gym had become outdated so we were pleased to invest our capital funding from the Welsh Government in modernising the facility.

“What’s critical to us is the ability to ensure broad community use for such shared facilities.

“Following these improvements the gym will be used much more, providing a real asset for both the school and local community.”

Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration and Tourism, Robert Francis-Davies, said: “It’s great to see the school and our leisure operator Freedom Leisure collaborating on this project and I’d like to thank Sport Wales for their assistance as well.”

Cabinet Member for Education and Learning, Robert Smith, added: “It’s yet another fantastic facility to help keep people of all ages active, fit and healthy.”

(Lead image: Swansea Council)