Two gyms, in Burnley and Padiham, have received an upgrade thanks to £750,000 in funding.

Burnley Leisure and Culture, which manages leisure sites across the borough, has recently upgraded more of its facilities.

St Peter’s Leisure Centre, in Burnley, and Padiham Leisure Centre have benefited from newly refurbished gyms and cycling studios.

The sites have now reopened and the projects include improvements within changing areas.

This is thanks to a £750,000 investment by the trust in partnership with Burnley Council.

Construction work has taken place at the sites over the last few months.

Sarah Drinkwater, operations manager project lead, said: “Firstly, I want to thank all our loyal members for their patience over the last few months with a large amount of construction and development work being undertaken whilst remaining predominantly open, and our teams have excelled themselves with many of the fitness teams working on this project for over a year.

"We are very proud of all four projects and the members are loving the gym and indoor cycling areas, and we have received plenty of fantastic feedback upon reopening.

“We have created all-inclusive fitness areas that continue to be places that brings people together from all areas of our local community, inspiring people to build confidence and enabling everyone to get involved in physical activity without any barriers.”

Partnering with Life Fitness to create an “inspiring” gym layout, the space was designed to encourage participation in a supportive fitness environment.

It is hoped the new design will encourage a community feel and a sense of camaraderie amongst our members which will keep them coming back.

The gym at St Peter’s has been extended to create a much bigger space, which allowed the trust to increase strength and conditioning areas along with free weights training featuring top of the range equipment from leading suppliers with also upgrading all ceilings, lighting, and artwork within the areas to create such an atmospheric member workout experience.

With designing the gym, initial plans and focus was to ensure functional fitness, cardiovascular fitness, strength, and conditioning was incorporated with ensuring all our areas were fully accessible and catered for the community, paying closer attention to members with health conditions or impairments.

Members over the age of 50 have also been considered, in the hope of inspiring them to venture into new methods and experiences of training.

New Box 12 classes are ideal for people of all abilities and anyone can participate whether that be from a seated or a standing position.

The boxing skills taught are easily adaptable and include drills to increase core stability, mobility, and overall upper-body strength.

A spokesperson for Burnley Leisure and Culture said it will be organising free educational programmes on weight training, to highlight the benefits of lifting weights during menopause, a subject the trust feels is not discussed enough and is also passionate about. 

Further to this, and open to all female members, the trust will be providing boxing training to build further confidence within boxing areas.

Scott Bryce, head of operations, said: “I am absolutely delighted with the look, feel and premium grade of our latest fitness upgrades.

"The team have developed such fantastic workout spaces that also integrate with technology, ensuring we meet the needs of our ever-increasing diverse membership, no matter what your fitness level, from athlete to new to exercise, age group or health conditions, the areas are designed to enhance both physical and mental wellbeing training experiences and essentially; all being fully accessible.

“The trust, which wouldn’t be possible without great support from the council, are super proud of the first-class facilities and training experiences we can provide to our local community, supporting people to be healthier and happier.”