High Life Highland today announced that they have been successful in securing £37,404 National Lottery funding towards an exciting project in partnership with sportscotland which will create a state-of-the-art dedicated strength and conditioning space at Inverness leisure.
Work will commence next week to vastly improve the existing strength and conditioning area which originally benefitted from 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy equipment
The new area will be approximately 4 times the size of space currently available and will include 6 weightlifting platforms and racks, complete with Olympic bumper weights and a conditioning area with cardio and resistance equipment. The icing on the cake will be new performance impact flooring throughout which incorporates a fantastic spec 20m agility turf runway.
Steve Walsh Chief Executive of High Life Highland said, “I am delighted that our partnership with sportscotland has once again been successful in providing funding to improve what is on offer for our members and local athletes. I have competed as a weightlifter and powerlifter all over the World and can say with confidence that this facility will be the match of any I have seen, it really is a quantum leap for sports development in the Highlands.
The investment underpins our philosophy of offering opportunities for participation at an affordable price and our commitment to provide training facilities for elite young athletes in the Highlands.”
The new facility will be available for an additional 86 hours per week providing more opportunities for quality strength and conditioning training for highlife members of all standards, performance athletes and clubs. High Life Highland staff will be undergoing specialist training to allow the highest levels of safety, support and coaching at all times.
Mr Walsh continued, “I am particularly pleased that we are able to improve our offering at a time when our members are looking to be able to train through the winter months in a COVID safe environment, the additional space means that athletes and members can train in a purpose-built superbly equipped facility that is conducive to social distancing. “
As part of the partnership, thirty-six sportscotland institute of sport and Highland performance development programme athletes will gain free access to the facility to support their training programme.
Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland said: “This is a great example of a project which will offer real benefits to aspiring athletes, clubs and the wider local community enabling them to lead more active lives. That’s why we were delighted to make this investment of £37,404 of National Lottery funding as part of our package of support for sport and physical activity in Highland.
“We have worked in partnership with Highlife Highland to plan a facility that will reduce the need for Highland-based athletes to travel for training. This new facility will create a high-performance environment right here in Inverness, providing the training and expertise local athletes need to progress and perform in their chosen sport.”
The existing area within the leisure centre was developed over 10 years ago also in partnership with sportscotland, to support area institute athletes to access a quality strength and conditioning training environment and was available for High Life customers for 14 hours per week.
Mr Walsh concluded, “Our strong relationship with sportscotland allows us to deliver quality projects in the Highlands whether that be our Active Schools programme, community sport hubs, or as we see today improving the facilities available which gives us the flexibility to increase our personal training, small group fitness classes and woman’s weightlifting classes.”
