Reading- GLL 30th Birthday Celebrations
On the weekend of the 22nd & 23rd July, Reading will be in full party mode, celebrating GLL’s 30th Birthday with a range of fun-filled themed activities.
All 4 centres- Meadway Sports Centre, Rivermead Leisure Centre, Palmer Park Leisure Centre & Stadium and South Reading Leisure Centre, will be hosting a variety of activities over the weekend, capturing a real party atmosphere, with 90’s themed fancy dress & 90’s themed foods on offer in the cafés, birthday cakes to celebrate GLL turning 30, competitions and prizes and much more. Meadway and Palmer Park are both giving out prizes in the children’s colouring competitions, with Palmer Park offering a Soft-play competition as well. South Reading are putting on a pool inflatable sessions, with 90’s music as well as offering ‘bring a friend’ to the gym, for all members. Rivermead will host various exercise classes including Dance Fitness, Group Cycle and Basic Circuits, all with a 90’s theming. And if all of that wasn’t enough, Palmer Park will also be offering a 90’s themed Dance Fitness class and a DJ in the gym, playing non-stop 90’s classics all weekend long- all of which will be a HIIT (pun intended), with participants, I’m sure.
As well as all of the wonderful birthday celebrations taking place, the weekend of the 22nd & 23rd is even more special for one of the Reading Leisure Centres as it coincides with the opening of the new Rivermead Leisure Centre.
Opening on Monday 17th July, the brand-new Rivermead Leisure Centre will offer a 120-station gym with 3 studios, a 6-court sports hall with 250 spectator seats, a café, information hub, and soft play. Following on from the initial opening, Rivermead will then open its 25m, 8 lane competition pool, with moveable pool floor, Splash pad for younger users, a combined teaching and diving pool with a moveable floor.
With so much taking place, Reading will certainly be spoilt for choice!
CELEBRATE 30 YEARS OF GLL
Founded in 1993, GLL is now the UK’s largest public leisure and libraries co-operative and charitable social enterprise and has a clear mission to improve the physical, mental and social health of local communities. In 2022, GLL’s activities raised £390m in social value in local communities, independently audited and measured across a series of indicators including health and wellbeing.
GLL runs services under the ‘Better’ brand and is demonstrably successful in getting people more physically active – with over 50m customer visits each year. Tackling health inequalities helps GLL support the NHS and local authority health and social agendas.
GLL is also a catalyst for the local economy - providing employment and training opportunities in libraries, children’s centres and leisure centres.
What make us different?
We are a not-for-profit leisure and cultural social enterprise which means a business run on charitable lines, which is dedicated to improving the lives of its customers.
Our ethos means any trading surpluses do not line the pockets of corporate fat cats or dividend-earning shareholders (we have none) but are reinvested in the service - removing barriers to participation, developing our staff and investing in grassroots sports development.
Since 1993 we have been able to re-invest over £100m back into our facilities and services.