Saving a leisure centre

Many of you may know that I embarked on saving a sports facility 2 years ago. The council was closing it and that was that.

Or so many thought...

In my heart though I felt there were issues of integrity with this decision and so I quickly joined with some local mums who had started  a petition against the closure.

I had more than enough on at the time but as a community worker my professional values were at stake as far as I was concerned. I could not stand by and see a facility be demolished because I knew it would have a detrimental effect on the long term health and well being of the community.

It soon became apparent that the decision would not be reversed and the last option was a community buy out of the facility.

Fighting demolition is massive, but thanks to a great team within the community that evolved we have done it - it is the community worker's dream. I am so proud do be a part of this.
What started as my off time,  soon became part of ministry. For where does it start and finish?

So Ochil Leisure Centre is once again open to the public, thanks to a handful of determined parents and local people.

  

It has been a slog at times and I wonder why would you do this as it has impacted family life.... but the satisfaction I got at having my kids back in there doing swimming lessons ( a very important life skill) and hearing kids enjoy themselves is hard to describe.

We have opened the doors in March and have a good staff team but we still need to make it sustainable.
I now have a choice to make too. Have I done my bit or do I become a voluntary Director of the company? (If they will have me)

To be honest I have poured so much of my life into this in the past 2 years  that it has my heart now.... its still early days.

This was no where in my grand scheme of life but its where God seems to have led me.  I have some thinking to do.

Some may think well this is not a Christian venture, you have more than enough to do, but God is interested in the whole being.
 He is interested in us even when we ignore Him. He never abandons us and always accepts us.

I want to see community transformation. Having good facilities that help in health and well being is very much part of that.

If you are reading this and are local, please drop in at the facility and try it.

We want it to grow and bloom.