What's new at Andersonstown Leisure Centre?
Moy Park Belfast City Marathon 2024
Very proud to announce that our very own Anthony Kavanagh is participating in this year's Belfast City Marathon representing Andersonstown Leisure Centre. Along with ten other ambassadors from various organisations, Anthony, one of our duty managers here at Andersonstown Leisure Centre, and Jess, one of our trainee managers, are Better ambassadors who have joined the Moy Park Belfast City Marathon "26.2 Crew" on their journey to finish their first-ever marathon! The 26.2 team met at the Running Bubble in Lisburn on January 10th in order to get the proper running shoes and undergo gait analysis. The ambassadors' next gathering is scheduled for January 26th here at Andersonstown Leisure Centre, where they will take part in a strength and conditioning session led by our fitness manager, Patrick.
Anthony previously has completed 5km, 10km and half marathon runs but he wanted to push himself further and complete a full marathon at 26.2 miles. Anthony and Jess and the 10 other ambassadors are encouraged to run the marathon in aid for Air Ambulance NI to contribute to the care of critically sick patients at the scene of an incident. To prepare for the marathon, the 12 ambassadors will participate in rigorous training programmes both outdoors and in our centres, where they will receive a free three-month membership with unlimited access to all our 16 centres across Belfast.
In the upcoming weeks, Anthony will participate in a variety of training sessions, including CrossFit, strength and conditioning, low-impact cardio exercises like swimming, and running, a high-impact cardio workout to prepare for the marathon. Anthony has already started his own preparation for the marathon clocking up miles around the city with 5am sunrise runs and strength and conditioning sessions. We have no doubt that he’ll knock it out of the park come the 5th of May.
Staff Recognition
One of our regular customers has provided us with fantastic feedback regarding the centre’s staff.
“Hi, I'm a carer for children and young people with SEN and have visited your centre on multiple occasions with them. I am always impressed with the kindness and understanding of your staff, both lifeguards and receptionists. A young man on reception (I think his badge said Ciaran but not sure) today (Saturday 6th January at 14.30) is always especially thoughtful and I would really appreciate you passing my thanks on to him, and all your wonderful staff. It means a lot to us!”
A true testament to our staff here at Andersonstown Leisure Centre that ties in with our values of “more than a job” and “customers and communities at our heart.” We believe that every person that walks through the centre doors should all be treated equally and as part of our community here at our centre in the heart of West Belfast and it’s great to see the staff gaining some recognition for this amazing work.
Another outstanding staff accomplishment was made by our General Manager Julie Bolton, who took home the Overall Better People award, and Lifeguard Connolly O'Connor, who got a Better People award at our annual Comms Day just before Christmas. Amazing work from both Connolly and Julie that demonstrates the hard work and determination that they both display on a daily basis.
Member Achievements
We would also like to give our members some recognition for their achievements such as Darren Daly who broke another personal record in our strength class. Every eight weeks, we have test weeks in our strength classes to see our members' progress. When Darren first started attending our strength courses in June, he was able to deadlift 80 kg. During this week’s test week he managed to deadlift a massive 140kg beating his own personal record. Congratulations Darren!
What’s new in the centre?
We are planning throughout the next few months to add an Aqua Aerobics class in our pool as well as a Dance fitness class to our studio, we hope to get these added to the timetable as soon as possible as we know these will be popular. As well as this our fitness manager Patrick has added three new strength classes on a Monday 11:00–11:45am, Tuesday 11:00–11:45am, and Friday 6:00–6:45pm. Lastly, due to popular demand we have increased the Yoga and Pilates capacity from 18 to 20, we hope to see you there!