Park's 'popular' outdoor gym great success (From Enfield Independent)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news & views by texting ENFIELD NEWS to 80360, or email us
Broomfield Park's 'popular' outdoor gym in Palmers Green great success
2:37pm Thursday 5th July 2012 in News
By David Hardiman, Reporter
Friends of Broomfield Park chairman Laki Marangos tries out the gym, encouraged by committee member Tony Elliott and Cllr Bond.
An outdoor gym installed in a Palmers Green park has been “far more popular” than anticipated.
The Green Gym at Broomfield Park, in Alderman’s Hill, which hosts 12 different pieces of gym equipment for free use by park users, was opened by the park’s friends group in March.
And chairman Laki Marangos said the gym, funded by a £33,000 grant from Enfield Council’s Residents’ Priority Fund, had been a great success.
He told the Enfield Independent: “It really has been extremely popular – far more than we’d imagined – and we’ve had a lot of excitement from people in the area.
“All of the comments we’ve had have been very positive and one woman today even said she had cancelled her gym membership because she would use this instead.
“It’s great because we’ve had people of all ages, shapes and sizes, and getting more people in the park using the facilities is one of our long-term aims.”
The gym is installed on a hard green floor, with all the equipment coming with a 25-year guarantee.
Councillor Chris Bond, cabinet member for environment, said: “Residents asked for it and it’s a great way of getting active – and it fits in well with our fitness initiative.
“We’ve got some of the best parks in London and we’re the greenest borough so we want people to come and enjoy them.”
