Didcot Wave flexes new gym renovation
South Oxfordshire District Council has just upgraded the gym at Didcot Wave Leisure Centre to the tune of £130,000 with new state-of-the-art cardio and resistance equipment.
It’s not just good news for those trying to get fit and healthy – it’s also great news for the climate with some new equipment being powered by human energy rather than by electricity. These self-powered gym stations help reduce the energy consumption and therefore operational costs at Didcot Wave.
The refurbishment covered a full replacement of kit, including 57 new machines from bench presses, bikes and rowing machines to free weights and an Olympic Power Rack, as well as new flooring and lighting. It was largely funded from payments by developers which have built homes in the area, known as Section 106 funding, with some additional capital funding from the council.
Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “It’s vital our residents have access to high-quality leisure and sporting facilities to help build healthy and happy communities. This new equipment, flooring and lighting at Didcot Wave provides a welcoming, safe and inspiring setting to help more people live active lifestyles.
“We’re committed to reducing energy usage in all ways possible, including self-powered equipment – every little helps. As well as the gym the pool has also recently introduced energy-saving destratification fans which stabilise the pool’s temperature and help cut the centre’s energy bills by more than a third.
“We managed to avoid any closure of the gym during these improvements and tried to keep disruption to a minimum, but we’d like to thank all visitors for their patience while the work was carried out. Now it’s great to see the space ready to go and I look forward to seeing users enjoying the new equipment.”
Cllr Pieter-Paul Barker, Cabinet Member for Finance and Property Assets, said: “It’s fantastic to see these upgrades rolled out at Didcot Wave to provide an even better leisure experience, supported by contributions from developers.
“This is exactly why we collect Section 106 funding – to see it invested straight back into the community and bring to life these improvement projects for our residents to use and enjoy.”
The centre is owned by South Oxfordshire District Council and run by its leisure contractor GLL, which manages the district’s Better UK leisure facilities on behalf of the council.
For more information on the Didcot Wave, visit www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/south-oxfordshire/didcot-wave-leisure-pool
Notes to editors
The total cost of the gym upgrade was £133,129.
