Starting on 1st February 2019, the 10-year contract included the delivery of £1.8m capital development schemes within the first twelve months of the contract.

The works comprised a full refurbishment of Meadowside Leisure Centre and part refurbishment of Uttoxeter Leisure Centre and creating a brand new 35 station fitness at Shobnall Leisure Complex. The investment was targeted to significantly refurbish the existing life-expired facilities.

The scheme at Meadowside Leisure Centre consisted of a major internal redesign and refurbishment of major activity spaces finalised with both a brand new 120 station fitness suite and soft play and climbing centre, creating a fantastic activity hub in the centre of the town.

The recent investment into the facility has ensured that the Council met its objective of offering Value for money services, identified in their Corporate plan. These new and diverse activities on offer have created more opportunities for the residents of East Staffordshire to participate in sport and recreation and improve their health and well-being.

Post refurbishment and within the first three months of Playworld opening, we saw an increase in both participation (up to 10,500) and revenue within the centre.

Within twelve month all remaining phase of capital investment came to fruition and the Authority now has three modern leisure centres which support the local community in becoming more active. The increase in leisure provision, facilities and services, including a brand-new fitness Suite at Shobnall Leisure Complex has assisted in meeting the needs of a growing community.

With the completion of all projects in 2019/20, the remaining years of the operating Contract promise to be very successful with a key factor of this success being the capital development schemes delivered by Everyone Active.

Starting on 1st April 2018 this 10-year contract included the delivery of the £1.5 million Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre refurbishment to be completed within the first 12 months of the contract.

The investment was targeted to significantly upgrade and modernise the exiting fitness and changing facilities and significantly improve the Health and Well-being opportunities to the residents of Dacorum.

The scheme consisted of an internal redesign and refurbishment of a fitness suite which was separated into two different spaces. By building a mezzanine floor we were able to create one large fitness space and improve the environment significantly. Together with a state of the art 150 station fitness suite the works delivered fully refurbished aerobic studio, mind and body studio, a new group cycling studio, top of the range dry changing rooms, modernised café and social space, and refurbishment of reception and circulation areas. This creating a fantastic activity hub for all ages of the community.

The investment into the facility has ensured that Dacorum Borough Council and Everyone Active continue to deliver a service to all the residents at an affordable price, whilst increasing participation and reducing inactivity across the borough. The in-reach and outreach programmes have seen an increase in participation and an improvement of health and well-being.

Key Outcomes
Following the completion of the development programme by September 2018, Everyone Active – Hemel Hempstead has delivered the following key performance outcomes for the contract:

• Attendance increase of 32%
• Membership increase of over 600
• Quest Plus: Excellent
• Attrition average of only 4.3%
• An average internal Health and Safety audit score of 97%
• Successful Open Day with Olympian Max Whitlock, over 3,000 customers engaged and we received positive community support on the day.

A £1.2m facility investment programme across five regional facilities. Completed at the beginning of November 2019, with key achievements, including:

• Generated 11,000 Everyone Active Card holders - allowing us to effectively and efficiently communicate with users, and target market areas of low usage communities/areas
• Increased fitness memberships by more than 300 (total 3,806)
• Increased swimming lesson pupils by 150 per week (total 2,188)
• GP referral participation has increased to 447 participants, an increase of 20%.

The Toning Suite at Blackbrook formed a key part of the refurbishment work, focused on two of the Council’s target population groups – older adults and inactive people. The facility has 263 members, attendance has increased to over 840 visits per month, and attendance by males has increased by 400% since August 2019.

Specialised rehabilitation sessions including those for Parkinson’s, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Phase 4, Escape Pain (for those with long term knee or hip pain), circuits and gym-based circuits and a seated Pilates class. These sessions reduce social isolation which has enabled new friendships to form with the participants.

Partnership Working
We worked with a range of partners to support local community events and activities, including:

• The Autumn Walk Well programme in 2019 – encouraging older adults to keep active during colder months. 10 walks are now available weekly, regularly attracting between 90 and 110 people
• Musgrove Park Hospital – Beacon Centre, where we regularly attend their moving on days, for patients who have recently finished cancer treatment and provide information about our GP referral programme and other opportunities to participate in walks or centre based activities.
• ‘Community One Team’ – a wide range of organisations to support vulnerable communities by delivering activities such as the ‘Wacky Wednesday’ community holiday play day.
• Launched the EA Sporting Champions programme, which helps support 10 local athletes across the District.