Exercise fans welcomed back to new outdoor facility at The Shrewsbury Club
Fitness lovers welcomed the opening of an outdoor fitness facility in Shrewsbury as group classes started up again in the fresh air.
The Shrewsbury Club in Sundorne welcomed back members today for a series of sessions led by trainers for the first time in months after gyms were closed as a result of lockdown.
Gym-goers participated in bootcamps, workouts and outdoor activity to get their hearts pumping after months of home and online workouts.
Max Thomson and Sarah Houghton play tennis at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club as outdoor venues were allowed to reopen.
Government rules have allowed outdoor venues to reopen, sports events to resume and groups of up to six to meet starting from today.
The fitness centre worked with Church Stretton based company, BeaverFit, to create 'The Base' an outdoors fitness facility on the grounds.
With two storage units, and a wide space for group workouts, the facility is ideal for carrying out socially-distanced sessions now that rules have been lifted on group outdoor sport activities.
Emma Winton, marketing manager at BeaverFit, said: "The Shrewsbury Club reached out to us not that long ago about about an outdoors fitness facility, and this was installed about a year ago during the first lockdown.
"It has now allowed the club to reopen before gyms and other clubs, as classes can be held outside. Because it was installed during the first lockdown, it has been there and ready to go all this time, as soon as fitness was allowed outside.
"It gives the club benefits of opening and they have lots of space here to use. I think people just feel safer outdoors at the moment."
Scott Macdonald, who runs Ultimate Fitness and teaches classes at The Shrewsbury Club, said: "It gives the club an extra studio effectively. There is a real excitement for people coming out here.
"Exercise is such a social thing, and it's great people can come out and see others, just a bit of human interaction really. We are running around 30 classes here, from bootcamps to bodypump classes. Members can sign up and they're not being charged.
"People are desperate really for a bit of normality and the industry as well had been hit hard so for the staff to have people to teach again has been great."
Classes at The Base are limited to 12 people, and Scott said he hopes it will give people the chance to interact with others, and get out in the fresh air again.
Rose Pritchard and her partner Alex Williams, who live in Shrewsbury, attended the 10am bootcamp class and said it was great to be back.
Rose said: "I am a teacher so online things are great, and Joe Wicks' fitness sessions have been a life-saver, but it is still hard to motivate yourself. So it is so good for us to be able to come back.
"We only joined the club January 1 so we had been looking forward to coming back and being here. We are signed up for a session every day this week. We both really enjoyed the session and it was nice to have something a bit different."
Lucy Bridges and Georgina Dorse are Shrewsbury residents and have been training together when they had the chance while gyms were closed.
Georgina said: "I enjoyed the class, it was just great to be back and see different faces. You don't realise how much you miss it until you can't go anymore. It also really helps with mental health for people to be out the house and interacting."
Lucy added: "I had really missed the club. Georgina and I have been running together during lockdown as I have been training to take part in the London marathon.
"It is such a friendly club, it's definitely more of a social thing for me."
BeaverFit founder Tom Beaver said: “It was great to see The Shrewsbury Club’s brand-new #BASE area open today and to see members enjoying the outdoor space.
“The #BASE project enabled us to create a bespoke and innovative outdoor exercise solution for the club which meant it could open as early as possible when restrictions eased and members could get back into classes before other gyms reopened.
“People have really realised the importance of exercise and spending time outdoors during the past 12 months, not only for our physical but mental health too. This space is going to be a great asset for The Shrewsbury Club and its members and we’re proud to have worked with the team to bring it to life."
