Customers of one of Harrogate's three community-based leisure hubs have spoken of the diverse range of classes which are helping their health and wellbeing.
The Harrogate area’s centres are about to become part of North Yorkshire Council’s new Active North Yorkshire service and with it will come the award-winning services that have been delivering health programmes for the last 12 years.
Brimhams Active was last month recognised for industry best practice at the UKActive awards having led the way in supporting more people to be active by delivering sessions that are aimed at helping people to live longer and complement existing healthcare provision.
It was national winner in the equality, diversity and inclusion and the healthy communities awards.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers, said:
“There has been a very focused approach in the Harrogate area where the service has been about reaching the people who need it most.
“Our aim is to replicate this across the county as all our leisure facilities become part of Active North Yorkshire so we can offer the right programmes to improve health and wellbeing for everyone.
"That could be by working in partnership with the local health services, our own social care teams or with specialist professionals.
“Active North Yorkshire is focussed on supporting everyone in the community to be active, with an increased emphasis placed on improving the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the county’s communities.”
The Stockwell Community Hub in Knaresborough has been crucial for both 55-year-old Michelle Fryar and retired couple Kath and Peter Braunton.
Mrs Fryar has been involved with the centre for about five years taking part in the Fit 4 Life project, circuits class, the cook and eat sessions and gardening group.
She said:
“Coming to Stockwell has made me find me.
“I had suffered from mental health issues and needed help to prioritise me. But now I am helping others and I would encourage anyone to get involved.”
She has gone from being a member of the cook and eat and gardening groups to now volunteering at them, helping to grow the vegetables at the community garden and then using the produce in the cooking classes.
Mrs Fryar added:
“I self-referred myself to the centre because I needed help and support. I found that in abundance and I would recommend everyone to try it.
"I have got my confidence back and love the community spirit which is at the hub.”
Retired social worker Mrs Braunton, aged 76, came to the hub earlier this year when her doctor referred her to one of the falls prevention groups to help with her blood pressure and balance issues.
Her husband, who also had issues with his balance, went along too and before long they were both involved in several classes a week.
Mrs Braunton said:
“I had had a compression fracture of the spine and had been inactive as a result so needed to build up my strength.
"The doctor recommended Stockwell which we had never been into before - leisure centres were just somewhere we took the grandchildren for swimming lessons. Now we know that they offer so much more.
“I would recommend going to the centres to everyone, the staff are very encouraging and supportive and the other participants in the groups we go to are friendly and welcoming.
"And I love that we can go along in our own clothes – there is no need for lycra, just something comfortable to wear.
“The classes have been hugely beneficial, we are sampling things we would never have tried before, and we are seeing a massive difference to our strength.
“Everyone imagines the gym is for young people, but it is for all ages. It is important that older people take things into their own hands. If it has been transformational for us, it can be transformational for anyone.”
The four leisure and wellness centres in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Nidderdale, the three wellbeing hubs at Fairfax, Stockwell and Jennyfield Styan, Harrogate’s Turkish Baths, Starbeck Baths and the Little Explorers Day Nursery in Harrogate will became part of Active North Yorkshire on December 1.
They will join the Selby and Tadcaster services that became part of Active North Yorkshire in September, and the services in the former Hambleton and Craven districts that were already operated in-house.
Changes for the Richmondshire Leisure Trust will come into play in spring 2025 with centres in the former Ryedale and Scarborough district and borough areas moving over by summer 2027.
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