Clarence Park gets new outdoor gym

Tuesday, 21 February 2023 13:00

By David Murphy

A brand new £10,000 outdoor gym is now in place at Clarence Park to support residents to achieve their fitness goals and boost their wellbeing.

Exercise outside if done regularly can relieve stress, benefit mental health, enhance self-esteem and lead to better physical fitness. And it’s free!

The outdoor gym is the latest improvement in a series of £350,000 projects to bolster the park which has already been awarded Green Flag status for 18 years running. Other ongoing projects include substantial refurbishment of the play area costing in the region of £53,000 and provision of a new £180,000 skate park.

Provision of the new skate park was delayed in 2022 due to the successful contractor going into liquidation. A new contractor has since been appointed with help from the Youth Service and Proffitts CIC. It is anticipated that the skate park project will be on site by May this year.

The tennis courts were also fully revamped during 2022 with new fencing, gates, surface repainting and new nets.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “Clarence Park is one of the borough’s flagship parks which is well used and enjoyed by the local community and visitors alike.

“We know the main reason people use Clarence Park is to exercise, take children to play and reduce stress levels. This new outdoor gym, together with the wider investment, will ensure the park can continue to go from strength to strength and keep it a tip-top facility supporting residents’ health, happiness and wellbeing.”

The new outdoor gym supports many important aspects of physical mobility such as co-ordination, strength, balance, endurance, flexibility and stretching. Users of the equipment,which is situated at the front of the park, should be taller than 1.4m.

The gym includes the following pieces of fitness equipment:

a large workout station (incorporating nine exercise elements for use by up to 8 people) with a pull up rack, parallel bars, chin up bar, tricep dip, push up bar, leg raiser, stepper, jump step and sit up bench;
a mini workout station (incorporating three exercise elements for use by up to 3 people) with a sit up bench, tricep dip and leg lift;
a second mini workout station (incorporating three exercise elements for use by up to three people) with a pull up rack, sit up bench and push up bar;
a third mini work out station (incorporating three exercise elements for use by up to three people) with a tricep dip, sit up bench and stepper/step jump.

Users should check the signage that is in situ for guidance on safe use of the equipment and, as with all exercise, people are advised to warm up beforehand and to cool down afterwards.

The outdoor gym equipment was supplied by Sutcliffe Play and is made from stainless steel for durability and ease of cleaning.

To find out about other outdoor play facilities in the borough of Bury visit www.bury.gov.uk/playfacilities.