It's that time of year again where New Year is fast approaching and many New Year's resolutions will me made and broken!! Becoming healthier is the number one New Year's resolution. Need a bit of motivation to get healthy?, not sure what's available in your area? For those who intend starting the Year with this in mind, I would like to tell everyone about the facilities available at my local sports centre in Port Talbot.
I have been a member of the Afan Lido for over a year. The main facilities that I use are the gym and swimming pool. The best thing about this sports centre is that you can be all shapes and sizes and as soon as you walk through the door you don't have people staring and sneering at you. There is no competition in the gym as to who is wearing the latest sports wear, it is not full of people taking steroids, the girls are not in full face of make up and looking that they are about to go on a night out and it has a friendly atmosphere. People actually go to this gym to work out and work up a sweat unlike some other gyms! I did have week's trial at the local Esporta Gym but couldn't bear it - everyone looked too perfect and it can be very off-putting, especially when everyone is posing. I find they are the type of places that unless you are a size 10 you 'don't fit in' - my only reason for going to the gym is to work-out and not to attend a fashion parade!!
Who runs the Afan Lido Sports Centre? The Afan Lido Sports Centre is just one of the sports centres which is run by Celtic Leisure Community Leisure Centres which are situated in the County of Neath Port Talbot in South Wales. Celtic Leisure manages 9 leisure centres and swimming pools throughout Neath Port Talbot. I will be focusing on the Afan Lido however the other centres are: Afan Lido; Blaengwynfi Social Welfare Centre; Hengwrt Community Sports Centre; Cymmer Swimming Pool; Neath Sports Centre; Neath Leisure Centre; Vale of Neath Leisure Centre; Pontardawe Leisure Centre and Pontardawe Swimming Pool.
Facilities at Afan Lido: Fitness suite, Function suites, Swimming Pool, Meeting rooms, all weather pitch (floodlight), 8 court badminton hall, 6 lane indoor bowling centre, 5-a-side indoor football, Wide range of fitness classes, Sauna, Steam Room, Children's birthday parties, Swimming lessons and Jacuzzi.
Swimming Pool Afan Lido is a premier leisure complex and home of the 'Aquadome'. The swimming pool is very big and at off-peak times a 'Baboon' (an electronic wall) is put up to separate the pool into a 25 metres. The other side of the 'Baboon' is shallow and ideal for toddlers and young children. At the shallow end of the pool there is a spectator area for those with young babies/children where parents are able to keep prams and pushchairs close by. There is also two Jacuzzi's at the side of the pool and an area with what looks like Lilly Pads in the water and monkey bars up above for the children to play in.
The changing rooms are kept clean and tidy and there are unisex cubicles. There are also family changing rooms available and these have showers in them. Lockers cost £1.00 and are refundable and there are free hairdryers. I have to say that the pool temperature is warm, as in my experience some large pools with slides tend to cost a lot to heat up and can often be cold, but this pool considering it's size is warm
At peak times - during the weekends and school holidays the wave machine is turned on and there are two slides to choose from. One is a body slide and the other you a rubber tyre slide. The lifeguards are at helping hand to help you lift the rubber tyres onto the conveyor belt which transports the rings to the top of the slide.
Opening hours during term time (off peak) vary on Monday - Friday from 3:30pm - 7pm with Early Morning Swim (pre paid) available from 7am - 9am and Lunchtime swimming Monday - Friday from12pm - 1:30 pm.
Inshape Gym As I have mentioned above, the gym is very friendly, has a nice atmosphere and the staff are very helpful. The gym has over 20 cardiovascular equipment such as running machines, spinning bikes, rowing machines, and Cross-trainers. There are resistance stations for those who want to use weights and there is a dedicated Weights Room at another part of the sports centre which is mainly used by the body-builders. There is an area for floor exercise such as sit up equipment and Swiss balls and there are also skipping ropes provided. The Inshape gym also has toning tables which are machines for those who may find using the cardiovascular machines too straining and they are great for older people, as the machines vibrate and tone you up as well as improve fitness.
The gym is open Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 8:30pm and at weekends is open from 9am - 5pm. In general the busiest times of the day are from 9am - 1:30pm (Mon, Tue and Fri) as the gym has a 'Fabulous over 50's Club' and from 5-7pm. During this time (5-7pm) you are limited to using the running machines for 30 minutes, however outside of these times there are no restrictions. People tend not to hog the machines for long and there are always machines to use. I have never had to queue for a machine!!
The staff are fully trained gym instructors and they are happy to write personal fitness programmes for you if you have areas of you body which you need to focus on. They also provide a Personal Instructor service for those who need some extra motivation and encouragement. There are also lockers in the gym which costs £1.00 and are refundable, male and female toilets with plenty of room to change, water cooler (which is free) and there are scales to weigh yourself which are also free to use.
Fitness Classes There are a number of Fitness classes which take place at the Afan Lido, these include: Indoor cycling, Fitball, Cardio Kick, Boxercise, Yoga, Aerobics, Step, Power Max, Easy Step, Dance Aerobics, Magnificent 3 (aerobics, Step and body sculpt Pilates and Yoga in a 1½ hour session), Circuits, junior and Senior Badminton, Judo Club, Aqua Aerobics, Junior Dance, Junior Netball, Trampolining and Special Needs Trampolining. A full list of fitness and class timetables can be found at www.celticlesiure.org
Fabulous over 50's Club As mentioned above the Afan Lido has a 'Fabulous over 50's club' these take place on Monday's Tuesday's, Thursdays and Fridays, There are a range of actives with take place for the over 50's which include: use of Inshape Gym (as mentioned above), Health suite, Cardio Kick, Magnificent 3, Swimming, Badminton, Power Max, Dance aerobics and Yoga.
Critters Club The Afan Lido has a Critters Club so that children can look forward to in the school holidays. At the Critters School Holidays Clubs a range of activities take place consisting of physical and mental activities as well as entertainment such as: sports coaching, Computer games, Tournaments and Competitions, Arts and Crafts, Little Critters Club and mini Olympics. This costs £6.00m per child per day. Afan Lido also hosts children's birthday parties and can provide bouncy castles and activities such as football and face painting.
Membership For £26.00 a month you can sign up to 'Advantage' where you are issued a membership card (which has your photo on it) and needs to be presented ever time you visit the sports centre. To sign up for this you need to bring with you a utility bill as proof of address and a bank statement/letter showing your account details etc. It takes around 2-3 weeks for you to receive your membership card; however you can use the facilities as soon as you sign up.
The Advantage card can be used across all of Celtic Leisure sites (as mentioned above) and you can benefit from unlimited use of: Inshape Health and Fitness Suites, all exercise classes - aerobics, yoga, Pilates, boxercise, Weights room and Gyms etc, Swimming, Aqua Spa at the Afan Lido and Health Suite at Neath Leisure Centre.
There is a £25.00 administration fee when you sign up and this includes your induction at the Inshape Gym/Weights room. £26.00 is debited each month on the 1st of every month. There is a minimum agreement of 6 months and after this time is you wish to cancel the membership, you need to give two months written notice. Best of all if both you and your partner want to join as a couple (called the 'training partner' membership) and providing that the money is debited from a joint account you will only need to pay £42.00 a month, so a saving of £10.00 a month (it work out at £10.50 a week which isn't expensive). If you do not want to join by direct debit you can 'Play and Pay' and pay each time you use the facilities on a Pay-as-you-go type of scheme. An adult swimming session will cost £5.60 and the gym is £4.20 (concession £3.20) - so it works out a lot cheaper to join. There are concessions for students/older people - £20.00 a month and employees of Neath Port Talbot Council - £18.00 membership per month.
Location and parking: Afan lido is situated on the Aberavon Sea Front and over the water you can see Mumbles, Swansea. There are plenty of parking spaces available - you never have to drive around for ages to find a space. The disabled bays are situated closest to the entrance and the car park is flood lit and has numerous CCTV cameras.
In my opinion, Afan Lido is a fun place to go and there are plenty of facilities and activities on offer. It is very friendly and has a nice atmosphere. It is also reasonably priced and perfect for keep fit and days out with the family!! It also has a 'Users Forum' so if you have any suggestions or ideas you can speak up about any changes to be made!
Contact details: Afan Lido Leisure Complex Hollywood Park Princess Margaret Way Aberavon Sea Front Port Talbot SA12 6QW
