Monks Hill Officially Open
Croydon’s newly-refurbished Monks Hill Sports Centre opened at the end of last month with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Councillor Andy Stranack and Jamie Coleshill, GLL's regional director.
As part of the launch day, local residents took part in free Zumba taster sessions, while school children from Quest Academy had the chance to try out ‘Junior Gym’ sessions in the newly refurbished Sports Centre gym.
A range of community activities were also laid on by local clubs including Croydon Cougars Basketball Club, Palace for Life Foundation and Play Place.
Speaking at the event, Councillor Andy Stranack, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture, said: “This is more good news for Selsdon and it’s been great to see the new gym at Monks Hill Sports Centre in action and so many people accessing the new facility. We're eager to see more people in the area come forward and get active.”
The event was also attended by Councillor Jason Cummings, Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Robert Ward and Kristian Aspinall, Interim Director of Culture and Community Safety and GLL Sport Foundation athlete Farrell Fabusiwa.
GLL’s Partnership Manager for Croydon, David Hughes, also attended and commented, "We’ve already seen a huge amount of interest from local residents in the refurbished sports centre, more than 1,000 visitors have come through the doors since we opened to the public in September and 100 new members have joined up.
"It will be great to see local residents and visitors in the Selsdon and wider Croydon area benefiting from the huge improvements to the facility. Our aim continues to get even more people, more active, more often and these upgrades will help us do just that."
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, added, “It's encouraging to see residents signing up for membership at the newly refurbished Monks Hill Gym. Making Croydon a healthier place to live is a key priority for me and giving residents improved access to modern leisure facilities will help to support this.
“With GLL, we are helping to deliver other key projects such as the upgrade of some of the council’s cricket pitches, in partnership with the English Cricket Board and Surrey Cricket, as well as delivering £549,973 of investment by the government and LTA Tennis Foundation to refurbish council tennis courts.”
The new 30 station gym boasts a wide range of the latest state-of-the-art Technogym equipment, a dedicated cardio zone, weights and resistance zones as well as new flooring and decoration. Additional square footage has been added by expanding into a former community room, kitchen and reception area. The renovations are courtesy of £140,000 investment from Croydon council’s capital budget – ring-fenced to improve the borough’s facilities.
Monks Hill Sports Centre will also play a key part in GLL’s GP Exercise Referral Scheme, Healthwise, which uses exercise to support Croydon residents living with health conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions and obesity.
Talented athletes and sports people supported through the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) will also be able to use the new state of the art gym at Monks Hill Sports Centre. GSF is the UK’s largest independent support programme for aspiring athletes, which will be open for applications on 20 December 2023.