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Tone begins work on second Feel Good Factory
Following on from the success of its first Feel Good Factory, leisure trust and social enterprise Tone has announced the commencement of work on a second model at one of its Devon centres.
A former kitchen area at Ivybridge Leisure Centre, which Tone operates on behalf of South Hams District Council, is set to be turned into a ladies-only power assisted fitness and inch loss centre, becoming Tone's second Feel Good Factory. Like the first facility at Tone's Blackbrook Pavilion in Somerset, the Ivybridge Feel Good Factory will have its own entrance and reception that separates it from the main facility and will be targeted at females who are overweight and/or have limited mobility.
The equipment, supplied by Shapemaster, will include the Powertone plus pilates machine and the new range of Easytone machines, both of which use power-assisted vibration technology to exercise muscles from a seated or lying position. The whole area is designed to be suitable for those whose movement is restricted and who might find the main gym either intimidating or unsuitable.
Ivybridge Leisure Centre will also be home to a new and improved coffee bar area adjacent to the Feel Good Factory, open to all facility users and members of the public. The two new areas are being developed in tandem and are expected to open in April 2011.
"We're extremely excited to be rolling out our Feel Good Factory concept to another of our centres," said Joel Chapman, Tone's commercial director.
"The Blackbrook Feel Good Factory proved so successful that members lost a combined 2,500 inches in a 10-month period and we've had some fantastic customer feedback, so we knew the model had the potential to succeed elsewhere. As a leisure trust and social enterprise, we're committed to helping the communities we work in get active and feel good, so initiatives like the Feel Good Factories are great ways for us to engage with people who might not ordinarily come into our centres to use the gym or have a swim."