Littledown opens

Children in Bournemouth are able to exercise in their own gym following the opening of The Zone@the town's Littledown Centre.

The facility was developed following the success of children’s sessions held in the leisure centre’s main gym over the past two years.

The centre also wanted to encourage more young people to exercise, and speaking to more than 500 local school children, found they wanted a “a gym like adults have”.

Designed for eight to 13-year-olds, the facility offers a range of specialist equipment including treadmills, spin bikes, cross trainers, rowers and a range of resistance kit supplied by Shokk, Technogym and Concept 2.

Around £40,000 has been invested in the gym, funded entirely by the Littledown Centre.

The facility can cater for up to 20 children and will be used by schools to complement PE lessons, as well as local sports clubs for supplementary training.

Fees will range from £2.80 per hour for use of the Zone only, or £18 per month or £180 per year for Zone membership as well as swimming sessions and selected activity classes.

The Zone has received much support from parents, school and centre visitors, Local children helped to name the facility and were also consulted on the types of equipment they wanted in the gym.

“This new facility kick starts a series of planned investments to reinforce our focus towards families and children during 2007,” says Peter Brown, leisure facilities group manager.

These include new artificial turf football pitches, refurbishment of the health suite, expansion of the outdoor children’s play area and a new gym at Stokewood Leisure Centre.