Galleon Centre

...in shape and chose the Galleon Centre, a fitness centre which was another I had previously been a member of, as the place I was going to join this time. One of the reasons that I chose the Galleon Centre was the fact that I could get discounted corporate membership through my fiancee's work at the local hospital.

**SOME HISTORY**

The old Kilmarnock baths which is where I had learned to swim when I was younger had been ...
...than a year until the Galleon Centre opened to the public for the first time on the 15th May 1987.

**FACILITIES**

1) Excells Fitness Suite

This part of the Galleon Centre has been expanded two or three times over the last few years to cope with the growing demand for the gym. In the gym there are about ten treadmills, six crosstrainers, six step machines, three hand bikes, four rowing machines and three ... more

I have been a member of a few gyms over the past few years including a small local gym in which you felt everyone was looking at you in and also Fitness First but usually I end up not using my membership as much as I should do. In February 2005 I decided it was time to get in shape and chose the Galleon Centre, a fitness centre which was another I had previously been a member of, as the place I was going to join this time. One of the reasons that I chose the Galleon Centre was the fact that I could get discounted corporate membership through my fiancee's work at the local hospital.

**SOME HISTORY**

The old Kilmarnock baths which is where I had learned to swim when I was younger had been deteriorating for years and in the mid 1980's Kilmarnock Town Council decided that a replacement was needed. At this point with the Council unable to afford the size of building required, a Charitable Trust was setup and the cost of the building which was a not unsubstantial £4.5 million was to be borrowed and repaid to the bank over a number of years. A site opposite the old baths was found and work commenced in February 1986 going on for more than a year until the Galleon Centre opened to the public for the first time on the 15th May 1987.

**FACILITIES**

1) Excells Fitness Suite

This part of the Galleon Centre has been expanded two or three times over the last few years to cope with the growing demand for the gym. In the gym there are about ten treadmills, six crosstrainers, six step machines, three hand bikes, four rowing machines and three rotex machines. As well as all this cardio equipment there is a large range of resistance machines and a range of barbells and dumbbells. When using the cardio machines like the treadmills you can plug a set of headphones into the machine and either tune into one of the TV stations which are shown on large TV screens in front of the equipment or you can listen to the radio stations. Personally I use my ipod as I have found that when you plug your earphones into these cardio machines half of them do not work.

The instructors in the Excells Fitness Suite are a bit of a hit and miss. A couple of the instructors are very helpful and easy to approach but on the other hand there are another couple of them who would rather look at themselves in the mirror and are not very helpful at all. I have had a couple of fitness plans worked out for me in the past but I do make sure that it is one of the helpful instructors that I get to arrange this for me.

2) Aerobics & Fitness

There is a very good selection of Aerobics classes available in the Galleon Centre including Pilates, Ab Blast, Body Pump, Aerobics for the terrified, Circuit Training, Spinning, Box-a-cise and Tums, Bums & Thighs amongst a whole lot more. A lot of these classes are aimed at beginners so anyone can go along and join in. The only class that I have done is the Spinning class which is a hard workout done to music while on bikes. This class was very tough and I felt like I could hardly walk when I got off the bike.

3) Swimming Pools

The Galleon Centre has two swimming pools. There is a small, shallow childrens pool which also has a short flume going into it and there is also a large deeper pool which I think is thirty metres long. You can also learn to swim here as there are childrens swimming lessons for age three upwards as well as ther being adult classes. The fact that the Galleon Centre has a swimming pool is another reason that I chose to join ahead of Fitness First although you do have to check out the times to avoid the swimming club and the fun swims.

4) Games Hall

The games hall can be booked either by using one of the individual courts for badminton or by booking the full hall for a game of 5-a-side football, basketball or netball.

5) Other Activities

Other activities in the Galleon Centre include bowling, squash, curling, ice skating, ice hockey and a sauna.

There is also a creche in the Galleon Centre which is staffed by fully qualified Nursery Nurses and accommodates children aged from six weeks to five years old. This means that if you want to go to the gym but don't have a babysitter you can take your children and leave them in the creche while you are at the gym.

**CHANGING ROOMS**

The changing rooms have recently had a major refurbishment at the Galleon Centre to bring them up to standard. The changing rooms were getting a bit run down but are now a lot better with plenty of lockers to go round and individual showers for after your workout.

**PRICES**

At the Galleon Centre you can either pay for the facilities as you use them or pay a monthly/yearly membership fee by direct debit. If you were going to be a regular user of the facilities at the centre you are better paying monthly/yearly as one or two workouts/swims per week would cost you more.

Excells Fitness Suite costs £4.40 plus admission which is about 95p at peak times and £3.45 plus admission at off peak times. Fitness classes cost about £3.70 plus admission. On checking the website there is no details of prices for swimming although from memory I think it is about £3.00.

If you take out a gold card for the centre which gives you unlimited access to Excells Fitness Suite, Swimming Pool, Sauna and all Fitness classes except Yoga and Tai Chi the cost is £32.35 per month. My corporate membership cost me £22 per month which I think is excellent value.

The creche costs 35p per fifteen minutes with a minimum stay of one hour and a maximum stay of three hours.

**VERDICT**

I believe that the Galleon Centre is excellent value for money as it is cheaper than Fitness First was when I was a member there. It is also good that there is no signing up fee when you join as I know some other gyms do this which I think is a bit of a con. The fact that this centre has a swimming pool which is available as part of your membership is also a big plus for me.
The only downside I would say is the attitude of some of the staff, not only the gym staff but the reception staff who can be quite unpleasant at times. This is not enough to put me off though and I would recommend this centre to others. 

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