The new gym extension, thanks to a £1m injection at Formby Pool, is shaping up nicely!

The Formby Pool new Gym extension is starting to shape up nicely. Formby Pool benefited from an injection of almost £1 million thanks to a donation from the Freshfield Foundation.

The Formby Pool Trust (FPT) and Sefton Council announced that the donation would fund an extension of the facility which will include brand new studio space, a larger gym and overflow car park.

This will facilitate an increase in the volume and variety of classes available, while extending the footprint of the gym to allow for 13 pieces of additional equipment. This includes Technogym resistance and cardiovascular equipment, the same equipment used by athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Games for the last two decades.

Work commenced on Monday 20th August with the new facilities planned to be opened to members and the community in Spring 2019.

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “This is an incredible opportunity for the community in Formby and shows the true value of partnership work."

“This donation is set to open up a host of prospects for centre users and the wider Formby community who will all benefit from increased facilities, state of the art equipment and improved timetables and is a win win for all parties.”

Patrick Moores from the Freshfield Foundation, stated: “We are delighted to give £920k to Formby Land Trust for the construction of the extension and the overflow car park. The gift is in recognition of the great job that FPT supported by Sefton Council has been doing in the last few years. The gift is also intended to help the pool to become more profitable and to reduce the financial support needed from Sefton Council.”

Dympna Edwards, Chairman of Formby Pool Trust, added: “Our aim has always been to provide an outstanding environmentally and economically sustainable high-quality leisure facility, accessible and affordable to all, that improves local people’s health, well being and quality of life."

“We warmly welcome this generous donation from the Freshfield Foundation and investment by Formby Land Trust in improving local facilities and services for the benefit of local people.”

David Kiernan, Head of Operations at FTP, said: “The exciting project concerns a single storey extension to the southern end of the existing building to incorporate a purpose-built fitness studio, extension to the gym, and provision for additional overflow car parking."

“We’re looking forward to being able to offer more to our supporters. It is an opportunity to maximise our impact on the health and well being of the community and to achieve its long-term objectives.”