Oldham Council has teamed up with charitable trust Oldham Active (Oldham Community Leisure) to provide local veterans with special discounted membership to its five wellbeing centres.
The special memberships will give Oldham’s veterans access to a wide range of activities, including more than 150 group exercise classes, state-of-the-art gyms, racket sport courts, swimming and sauna facilities at Oldham Active’s centres in Oldham, Failsworth, Chadderton, Saddleworth and Royton. While Oldham Active has always offered discounted memberships to local veterans, support from the council now enables them to offer even greater discounts, plus two months completely free.
Stuart Lockwood, Oldham Council Leader, Arooj Shah, Cabinet Member for Thriving Communities and Culture, Peter Dean, and Cllr. Ken Rustidge, the council's Armed Forces Champion, have been learning how veterans, including Gareth Bryer, have found coming to the gym beneficial to their wellbeing.
Council Leader Arooj Shah, said: “Oldham Council is working hard to improve the level of physical activity across the borough. Our health and wellbeing board has worked with partners to produce the get Oldham ‘Moving More’ strategy, as the positive benefits of physical activity for our physical health and mental wellbeing are well known. This new discount is one extra way of helping our veterans that Oldham Council is proud to introduce.”
Gareth, 42, who served in the Royal Engineers says: “I really enjoyed being in the Army, and the buzz of being deployed around the world. However, after eight years service, it was important for me to spend more time with my family. It can be tricky to transition back to civilian life, as when you are in the Army discipline is obviously key, and this includes physical activity and training every day.
"When you leave, that is suddenly taken away from you. I really value coming to Saddleworth Pool and Leisure Centre and train here most days, using the gym, pool, sauna and group exercise classes, including HIIT (high intensity interval training) and Core. It has helped to ease me back to ‘normal’ life."
Gareth and Oldham Active gym instructor Sam
“After I retired from the Army, I retrained to work in health and safety and often work from home, which can be quite isolating. Coming to the gym gives me that opportunity for social interaction and routine. It is really sociable here. I have good chat with the regulars and have met other veterans here too. Being active not only helps me to keep fit, but also helps with my overall emotional wellbeing. I would recommend the discounted membership to other veterans in the area. If I can do it, so can they!”
Cllr. Ken Rustidge, who represents the Failsworth East ward and served in the army reserve for more than 40 years before retiring as a major, said: “Let’s make it easier for our veterans to keep physically active. As an army reservist, I know the commitment made by regular and reserve forces to the defence of our country. This change will be one way of helping those men and women who have served to benefit their health and wellbeing.”
Cllr Ken Rustidge says the special membership will make it easier for veterans to keep physically active
Stuart Lockwood, Chief Executive of Oldham Active, said: "We believe every veteran in the Oldham area deserves the opportunity to enhance their health and wellbeing. We have around 6,000 regular or reserve armed forces veterans living in Oldham and are honoured to contribute to their support. Our veterans have given so much in service to our country, and we are committed to giving back to them. We understand that physical activity can be a powerful tool for improving both emotional and physical health, and we are dedicated to helping them on that journey.
"As a charitable trust, we are passionate about offering health and wellbeing opportunities to everyone in our community. In addition to supporting our veterans, we proudly provide a variety of discounted memberships and pay and play opportunities for carers, care leavers, young people, students, people living with disabilities, people on benefits, those over the age of 65 and elite athletes, ensuring that all members of our community can benefit.”
To find out more about Oldham Active’s concession schemes, please email: info@ocll.co.uk.