London,
20
March
2018
|
14:43
Europe/London

More residents to get active - Camden to invest £1.5m to improve Talacre Community Sports Centre

Talacre Community Sports Centre, one of the borough’s most popular locations for getting active, is to benefit from a £1.5m investment to improve facilities.

“Talacre Community Sports Centre is one of Camden’s most popular locations for getting active in the borough with nearly 250,000 visitors to the centre in the past year.

“The centre is fortunate enough to have a variety of multi-use outdoor and indoor facilities with a range of activities for all ages and abilities.

“However, with the indoor facilities now reaching their fifteenth anniversary, and to meet increasing demand, the sports centre needs new and better facilities to cater for the increased attendance and range of activities.”
Councillor Jonathan Simpson, Cabinet Member for Promoting Culture and Communities

Camden Council is funding these improvements along with centre management company GLL, who are also contributing money specifically set aside for centre improvements and initiatives, and also the London Marathon Charitable Trust who primarily provides funding for buildings, facilities or projects that inspire increased participation in physical activity, sport and play.

The centre is currently the only purpose built gymnastics facility in inner London and is the home of Camden Gymnastics Club, which offers programmes for three years to adults, and coached recreational gymnastics through to regional competition level.

Talacre is also the base for the Council’s sports training and education programme in partnership with La Swap sixth form consortium. This offers young people the opportunity to train as sports coaches and leaders and provides skills and supporting pathways for future employment. Talacre is also well used by many other local sports clubs and schools.

Existing facilities include a purpose built gymnastics hall, a four-court sports hall that hosts a range of indoor sports, a recently resurfaced 7 a-side floodlit astro-pitch, and Treetops - an adventurous soft play structure for young children.

The council wants to know the views and ideas of the centre’s users and local residents about these improvements. This engagement will start on 14 May 2018 and we will publicise how you can get involved once this has been finalised.

“We are pleased to confirm that the funding required for this project has been secured.

“The building requires some improvements to comply with current standards, and to improve the quality of service and experience for our customers.

“The internal spaces will need to be redesigned to accommodate the changing needs of our customers, an example being our popular gymnastics programme which is oversubscribed and we are having to turn people away.

“I want more Camden residents to get active, especially those that don’t regularly undertake any physical activity as their health and wellbeing would benefit greatly. Increasing the capacity of the centre means more opportunities for everyone to get active, have fun and feel great.”
Councillor Jonathan Simpson, Cabinet Member for Promoting Culture and Communities