A £22 million redevelopment project will be unveiled at Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre, as part of the official launch of the state-of-the-art centre.

Managed by Everyone Active, the Bishop’s Stortford based facility has undergone a major redevelopment by East Herts Council and will celebrate an official open day event on Saturday 23 October from 10am – 4pm.

The local community is invited to join in with the fun alongside former Olympic athlete, Colin Jackson, Commonwealth medallist and synchronised swimmer, Adele Carson, London 2012 Olympian and synchronised swimmer, Kate Skelton, and British record holder and former Olympian in freestyle swimming, Grant Turner.

At the new centre, residents will be able to enjoy a 25m eight lane competition main pool, teaching pool and water confidence zone, state of the art fitness suite, two exercise studios, self-contained football changing facilities and a café and seating area.

During the fun-filled open event, visitors will have the opportunity to try out these new facilities and a variety of activities for free, such as football skills with Britain’s Got Talent freestyle footballer, Jamie Knight and face painting.

A ‘Big Splash’ event will also take place from 10am – 12pm, which will be attended by children from local schools. Participants will be able to make a splash alongside Carson, Skelton, and Turner, and try a number of aquatic based activities such as synchronised swimming, a Rookie Lifeguard course and ‘dive and glide’ sessions.

All activities throughout the day will be free to all, however the team are encouraging visitors to make a small £2 voluntary donation which will go towards Everyone Active’s chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. The team hopes to raise £4,000 over the weekend.

Dan Humphries, Contract Manager at Everyone Active, commented: “We’re so excited for the official launch of Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre.

“The centre will play pivotal part in helping the community to improve their health and wellbeing and so we’re really looking forward to being able to finally celebrate with an official open day.

“It will be great to see the local community benefiting from all the fantastic facilities we have on offer and hope they will join us for a weekend of fun-filled activities for the whole family.”

Councillor Eric Buckmaster, executive member for wellbeing at East Herts Council said, “This project has been a positive investment for East Herts Council and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the project team, council officers and contractors that have helped bring the project to life.

“Construction work began at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the opening of the new leisure centre shows how hard everyone has worked to make this happen.

“I look forward to seeing everyone there and witnessing the start of the journey to a healthier lifestyle for many residents and other visitors to the new Grange Paddocks.”