Leisure centre 'unrecognisable' after £3.8m revamp

A leisure centre has relaunched and looks "unrecognisable" after a multimillion-pound refurbishment.

Families gathered at Easton Leisure Centre on Saturday after £3.8m was spent on improving its facilities over seven months, including fitting a women's-only gym.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, of Team GB, Gladiators and Strictly Come Dancing fame, cut the ribbon and said if he had a leisure centre "like this near me when I was younger, I can only imagine the opportunities that would have come to me earlier".

Cameron Bate, contract manager for Everyone Active, which runs the leisure services for Bristol City Council, said the centre was "unrecognisable" following its transformation.

Everyone Active had a joint investment with Bristol City Council to "revamp the whole centre", Bate said.

"We've transformed the centre. Everything you see when you walk in is brand new, from the floors to the equipment and everything else in between."

The enhancements included a new soft play area with "a massive slide", a women's-only gym, an extension to the other gym, a refurbished water slide, and "a whole new paint job", he added.

At the community open day on Saturday, Aikines-Aryeetey, alias Nitro on Gladiators, said cutting the ribbon was "an absolute honour".

"I think it's so important kids and families get into leisure centre because... sport is, ultimately, an opportunity to play, and playing is such a privilege," he said.

"I come from a council estate. When I was younger, I didn't have as many opportunities as some people would have thought, but I still managed to get to a place where I can be proud of where I've come from and what I've achieved.

"If I had an opportunity or a leisure centre like this... I can only imagine the opportunities that would have come to me earlier."

Noel Hickman, the leisure centre's general manager, said there was "a lot of buzz about the place" following its relaunch.

"It's a great place, it's taken seven months," he said.

"We stayed operational all the way through; it's gone down really, really well."

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