08 Jan 2013 Last updated at 00:00

More people using leisure facilities

Two leisure centres run by the Isle of Wight Council have seen a large increase in memberships since they underwent major refurbishment.

The council runs a leisure centre membership scheme called the 'One Card', which gives customers unlimited access to the gym, swimming pool and fitness classes depending on which card they purchase. Both 'gold' and 'silver' membership card options are available.
 
The Heights in Sandown, which has recently completed the first phase of a two-phase multi-million pound refurbishment, has seen a 43 per cent increase in gold One Card memberships and a 150 per cent increase in silver One Card memberships since the new facilities including the Tone-Zone gym and swimming pools were re-opened compared to the period before they closed.

Increase
 
At Westridge Leisure Centre in Ryde, where a new Tone Zone gym was installed and an additional new squash court set up, gold card memberships have increased by 91 per cent since the new facilities opened.

In total across the two, there has been 722 new or renewed memberships, increasing the membership base from 1225 to 1947. This is an increase of overall memberships of almost 60 per cent since the new look facilities were opened to the public.

'Very pleasing'
 
John Metcalfe, Isle of Wight Council deputy director for economy and environment said; "One of the council's aims is to help improve the health and wellbeing of the Isle of Wight's population and providing top quality accessible leisure facilities is one way of helping achieve this.
 
"It is very pleasing to see the public embracing the new facilities at Westridge and The Heights, and I am sure the number of memberships will increase even more once the first phase of refurbishment at Medina Leisure Centre is completed in the next few months."

The ToneZone gym at The Heights has been kitted out with 70 state of the art work stations
The ToneZone gym at The Heights has been kitted out with 70 state of the art work stations
Factfile
  • A second phase of refurbishment is currently underway at The Heights which includes upgrading the health suite.
  • At Westridge, the ToneZone gym was moved into a separate building and state of the art equipment installed, while the old gym was converted into an additional squash court.
 
Isle of Wight