Barnsley Hospital staff and their families can now get fitter for less at any of the BPL leisure venues in the region!

The new Healthy Workplace initiative is part of an agreement between Barnsley Hospital and BPL, in which the hospital has chosen to part-fund fitness membership for its staff and their families.

Staff at the hospital, will be able to benefit from unlimited access to eight top class leisure venues, seven fitness suites, over 100 fitness classes, five swimming pools, a nine hole golf course, one of the best athletics tracks in the region as well as many other sporting activities, all for just £10 a month! Their spouses, partners and children can benefit too from significant savings on fitness memberships with BPL.

Barnsley Hospital's programme lead and consultant paediatrician Rajeev Gupta said: "The health of our staff is extremely important and we want to give them every possible opportunity to access leisure facilities in their local area. We have over 3000 staff, many of whom live in the Barnsley area and this is part of our commitment to improving the health and well being of our employees and their families."

"We believe healthy staff give better health care and this partnership with BPL offers the opportunity to our staff for gym, swimming, badminton, golf, aerobics and other fun activities not only to the individuals but also to their families.''

Adrian Bailey, deputy chief executive for BPL, explains: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with Barnsley Hospital to provide fitness facilities for their staff. This is a great example of a large local employer encouraging its staff and their families to lead a healthier and more active lifestyle. Being the hospital, they are very aware of the benefits this will bring and we are looking forward to helping their staff to get the very best out of their membership with us."

The initiative involves the Metrodome Leisure Complex, Hoyland, Royston and Dearneside Leisure Centres, Wombwell swimming pool, Dorothy Hyman and Darton Sports Centres and Wombwell Hillies Golf Course.

BPL currently operates 12 leisure centres, ranging from small community recreation centres and civic halls to large regional facilities. Over the last 12 months, the organisation has invested over £500k in refurbishing and upgrading its venues.