Sports news
Get the latest updates on physical activity within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Chelsea Sports Centre now open following improvement works
The Council have committed £1.7 million to improve the Centre’s wet-side facilities. The wet-side changing room refurbishment is complete, and the brand new, stylish changing village will provide a larger, better ventilated changing space featuring:
- a total of 11 cubicle showers
- 30 single changing cubicles
- 3 family changing cubicles with baby changing facilities
- 2 group changing rooms
- 2 accessible changing rooms
- designated buggy storage area
- new costume dryer and hairdryers
Additionally, essential maintenance works and a refresh of the pool hall area have also taken place. The improvement works include:
- improved air circulation for a more comfortable swimming and spectator experience
- improved energy efficient lighting
- ceiling maintenance work
- re-tiled floor around the perimeter of the pool
- improvement works on the viewing gallery
All improvement works are complete and the wet-side facilities are open. Thank you for your patience during these works.
GLL backs funding for local athletes on track to Tokyo
Charitable Social Enterprise GLL has positively backed the next generation of athletes with the announcement it will invest over £5 million into athletes across the UK through its athlete support programme the GLL Sport Foundation within the Tokyo cycle.
GLL is the UK's largest leisure operator, leading Social Enterprise and athletes across its network of 61 areas of the UK will be able to benefit from support. Applications for the programme are open and athletes from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham area are encouraged to apply. Last year, the GLL Sport Foundation supported 21 local athletes including up and coming swimmer Alesha Kelly from Hammersmith and Fulham.
Alesha stated how the GLL Sport Foundation has helped her through her sporting career: “I have been competitively swimming since I was 8. From an early age I found myself quite successful in my butterfly events particularly. My ultimate goal is to compete in the Olympics, and I am prepared to pass all obstacles I encounter on the way to fulfilling this dream. The award will enable me to train in a range of venues, including 50 metre pools as I do not have regular access to these facilities currently which has disadvantaged me in the past. It will also allow me to purchase the equipment that will help give me the best possible chance to reach my goals, short and long term.”
The GLL Sport Foundation is the UKs largest independent athlete support programme and directly partners SportsAid, Mary Peters Trust and SportsAid Wales and through these partnerships provides tangible support to athletes across the UK that are within National Governing Bodies of Sport talent pathways from a junior to senior level.
Since the programme launched in 2008, 10,600 athlete awards have been provided at a total support value of £6.1 million. 75% of supported athletes are aged under 21 and the programme supports athletes across all Olympic, Paralympic, Deaflympic and Special Olympic sports.
The programme supported 59 and 45 athletes that competed at the Games in London and Rio respectively winning 33 medals combined, and with this announcement GLL are focussed on increasing these numbers towards Tokyo and onto the 2024 Games in Paris.
GLL Sport Foundation Patron Sally Gunnell explains the role the programme has to play: “The support from the GLL Sport Foundation is essential for young athletes, and can sometimes be the difference between being talented, and taking the sport up to the elite level. I have experienced first hand the financial struggle of being on the fringes of elite sport, and support programmes such as the GLL Sport Foundation relieves some of the burden so that more time can be spent on performing at the highest level possible.”
Supported athletes access financial support, training membership support to Better leisure centres across the UK and also sport science and physiotherapy programmes.
Last updated: 5 October 2021