A new £21,000 outdoor gym has been installed in The Carrs park which includes a variety of exercise machines for the use of anyone over the age of 14.
The project was led by the Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean to provide a free to use, outdoor exercise facility which is designed to keep people active and promote healthier living.
The new community facility was officially opened on Tuesday, 4th June, by the Town Crier Reg Lord and the Mayor of Cheshire East, Mr Arthur Moran who described it as a 'wonderful facility and community activity'.
They were joined in The Carrs by the Mayoress - Mrs Carole Thomas, Chairman of the Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean - Frank McCarthy, Rotarian Geoff Shelmerdine, Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council - Martin Watkins, local councillors Ellie Brooks and Don Stockton along with pupils from Wilmslow High School, town councillors and rotarians.
Rotarian Geoff Shelmerdine who came up with the idea said "We have spent more than two and a half years researching with equipment suppliers to assess cross generalisation use and how it may improve overall fundamental movement such as balance, agility and core strength.
"We have also spoken to local focus groups, researched over 200 users of the Carrs Park Wilmslow and we have visited numerous outdoor installations of similar equipment across the country to gain first hand knowledge of usage, popularity and age profiling.
"As a result of positive feed back, The Rotary Club formed a partnership to jointly fund the £21,000 project with Cheshire East Council, Wilmslow Town Council and Friends of The Carrs to provide the substantial fitness-related, social amenity for local people to use close to where they live."
To be known as Rota-Gym, the equipment has been installed to the right of the tennis courts.
Rotary Club President, Frank McCarthy said: "In East Cheshire statistics have shown that over 60% of adults are overweight, 17% still smoke and 28% are physically inactive. Obesity is becoming a national epidemic and it is important for us all, including seniors to keep active for our mental health and wellbeing.
"We are delighted to have formed a close partnership with the two Councils and Friends of The Carrs, we hope to inspire seniors to get outdoors and become more active to help gain lost agility, balance and coordination. We also want teenagers to redirect their time from playing computer games to physical outdoor exercise that is fun and invigorating and for families to make better use of the park, thus making it more inclusive. We work hard for our community and here is an example of Rotary facilitating a Free to use local amenity to keep people active for their mental health and wellbeing – we hope it will be put to good use."
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