The gym at Didcot Wave Leisure Centre has undergone a makeover with brand new cardio and resistance equipment.

The upgrade, costing £130,000, was primarily bankrolled by contributions from developers that have recently built homes in area, know as Section 106 funding, with some additional financing from South Oxfordshire District Council.

The refurbishment also aimed to make the leisure centre greener, with some equipment being powered by human energy as opposed to electricity, thus chopping down on energy consumption and aiding in reducing operational costs.

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The upgrade saw a complete replacement of equipment, with 57 new machines making their way to the gym, including bench presses, bikes, rowing machines, free weights and an Olympic power rack.

Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers, cabinet member for community wellbeing at the council, said: "It’s vital our residents have access to high-quality leisure and sporting facilities to help build healthy and happy communities.

"This new equipment, flooring and lighting at Didcot Wave provides a welcoming, safe and inspiring setting to help more people live active lifestyles.

"We’re committed to reducing energy usage in all ways possible, including self-powered equipment – every little helps."

She added: "As well as the gym the pool has also recently introduced energy-saving destratification fans which stabilise the pool’s temperature and help cut the centre’s energy bills by more than a third. “We managed to avoid any closure of the gym during these improvements and tried to keep disruption to a minimum, but we’d like to thank all visitors for their patience while the work was carried out.

"Now it’s great to see the space ready to go and I look forward to seeing users enjoying the new equipment.”

Cllr Pieter-Paul Barker, cabinet member for finance and property assets, said: "It’s fantastic to see these upgrades rolled out at Didcot Wave to provide an even better leisure experience, supported by contributions from developers."

He added, "This is exactly why we collect Section 106 funding – to see it invested straight back into the community and bring to life these improvement projects for our residents to use and enjoy."

GLL, which manages the district’s Better UK leisure facilities run the centre on behalf of the council, which owns it.

For more details on the upgraded facilities, visitors can visit the Didcot Wave website (www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/south-oxfordshire/didcot-wave-leisure-pool).