Parks and countryside
Get Fit for Free: New Outdoor Gym Equipment Now Available at 4 Walsall Parks
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Walsall Council has installed new equipment and scheduled a series of Community Workout sessions to help residents maximise the benefits of these new additions.
The new equipment is now available at Aldridge Airport, Pelsall Common, Pleck Park, and Holland Park. An additional set of equipment is scheduled for installation at Walsall Arboretum, with the anticipated completion date set for Spring 2025.
“ The new equipment encourages healthy physical activity and, most importantly, is free for everyone to use. We hope that having this new equipment will attract more people to try it out for the first time.
Outdoor gym facilities play a vital role in outdoor recreation, providing residents with a space to exercise, meet friends, and maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. The replacement of the equipment and renovation of the outdoor gym site are part of Walsall Council's ongoing commitment to improving local parks and open spaces.
With spring just around the corner, this is a great motivation to try something new. “
To kick-start use of the new equipment, Walsall Council’s Healthy Spaces team will be conducting a series of complimentary ‘activation sessions’ during the February half-term. Residents are invited to attend these sessions at their convenience. Qualified fitness staff from the council will offer demonstrations on how to use the equipment and provide ideas for effective workouts.
- Monday 17 February 2025: Aldridge Airport, 10am – 12pm
- Tuesday 18 February 2025: Pleck Park, 12.30pm – 2pm. Holland Park, 4.30pm – 6pm
- Saturday 22 February 2025: Pelsall Common, 10am – 12.30pm (The event at Pelsall Common will include two sessions at 10am and 11.30am, supported by the local fitness group 'Sal-Vation')
Ends
Notes to editors
- Following a comprehensive audit of all play areas within the borough conducted in 2019, improvements have been funded based on the findings. The play areas identified as most in need were detailed in a Cabinet report considered in February 2022, where capital funding was approved. An investment of just over £340k has been allocated for equipment across five sites. To complete the program, additional applications for external funding have been submitted, and where available, Section 106 planning gains money for Open Space improvements has been utilised.
- Each site’s gym equipment includes a chest press machine with adjustable weights, a lateral pull-down machine, a shoulder press machine, a hand cycle, dip bars, a leg raise machine, an oblique machine, a sit-up bench, an overhead ladder and handstand board, a recumbent bike, a triple step-up, and a pull-up bar square.
- The new equipment was installed between September and November 2024.
- This compliments the existing gym equipment on offer at 11 sites: Blackwood Park, Curtain Drive Play area, Doe Bank Park, George Rose Park, High Heath Park, King's Hill Park, Palfrey Park, Reedswood Park, Rushall Playing Fields, Shortheath Park, Willenhall Memorial Park.
- Participants must be 14+ to use the outdoor equipment.
