Up and running Steve Backley Legacy Gym, Dewsbury

Regeneration & Renewal, 16 May 2008

Objective To help adults get fitter through free informal use of exercise equipment.

Funding £20,000 from Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, but costs vary according to the equipment chosen.

Staff: None, although the company can arrange maintenance. Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council is among the first to offer residents use of a free outdoor gym sited in a park. Adults can use apparatus such as static bikes, weights and stretching equipment.

For people with young children, there is a playground adjacent to the gym area.

The equipment has been installed by the Great Outdoor Gym Company, and has been named the Steve Backley Legacy Gym, after the Olympic javelin medal winner.

Eric Firth, chair of the council's Dewsbury Area Committee, said the aim was to "get adults and older people more active, but the equipment will be open for use by the whole community".

He hopes that coaches from local sports teams will use the equipment as part of their training sessions.

All the outdoor gym equipment is securely bolted to the ground, reducing the risk of vandalism.

A spokeswoman for the gym company said: "Our idea is that the local community will feel ownership of the equipment and so vandalism will not be an issue."

She added that councils installing outdoor gyms might wish to have staff available to introduce the equipment to residents, but the gyms can be looked after by park staff.

While the Kirklees example stresses adult fitness, outdoor gyms can also help tackle antisocial behaviour. Strathclyde Police have sponsored an outdoor gym at Sandaig Park, Glasgow, where the emphasis is on diverting young people from antisocial behaviour.

Contact us. Do you know of any interesting projects launched within the last six weeks? If so, contact Herpreet Kaur Grewal on herpreet.grewal@haymarket.com.