Community owned Sheffield leisure centre receives £800,000 grant towards major refurbishment

Stocksbridge Community Leisure Centre was closed by Sheffield Council in 2013 after becoming financially unsustainable, but reopened as a community-run venue in January 2014.

Since then, the non-profit trust which operates it has ploughed everything it makes back into the centre and the service it provides, renovating the building bit by bit and buying new equipment to replace the old.

Now, thanks to £831,464 grant funding from the Lottery Community Fund, Sport England, Well North and the East Peak Innovation Partnership, supporters say they will be able to take the project to the next stage, with an emphasis on improving the building’s disabled accessibility.

The six-month project will include a new fully accessible front entrance and reception area, a new meeting room and offices, a brand new café with spectacular views over the Upper Don valley and a complete renovation of the wet side changing rooms.

Work on the project is expected to start in January and will be complete by August 2020.

Trustee Fay Howard, said the £1m project - which the trust is topping up with more than £150,000 of their own money - was just the latest chapter in what was a remarkable success story for the leisure centre.

She said: “None of us had ever run something like this before taking this on. We took over what was basically a derelict building.

“When I look back and realise how far we have come in such a short time it is amazing. We don’t get any money from the city council but we do have a good business team and that is the secret.”

Fay said the centre does employ experienced paid staff, but also relies on a large volunteer contingent which, along with the 300 solar panels on their roof, allows them to keep costs to 60 per cent of what Sheffield Council was spending.

She added local businesses such as those at the nearby Fox Valley shopping centre had also been very supportive, as had members of the local community.

Long-term, it is hoped the new facilities will become an integral part of the NHS’s People Keeping Well partnership in north Sheffield, working alongside GP surgeries to provide people with a place that can aid both their physical and mental wellbeing.

Chief executive Andy Clarke said: “This is great news for the long term future of the community-run leisure centre. In just over five years, local volunteers have turned a much-loved facility, destined for demolition by the council, into a viable and sustainable amenity.

“We are extremely grateful to all the funders for awarding this grant funding and making this project possible, particularly the players of the National Lottery. This recognises the impact our centre is making in improving the health and wellbeing of our residents and the value that everyone brings to our growing reputation and on-going success.

“Thanks to the overwhelming support received since our reopening in January 2014, we have created a facility for all the family, second to none in the area. Now, thanks to this funding, we will be able to encourage even greater use of the building, in particular our physically less-abled visitors. It will also enable us to take advantage of new business opportunities for ensuring the centre’s long term future.”