Students limber up on new outdoor gym worth £14,000

Students at Grace Academy Solihull are limbering up for the challenges ahead on new outdoor gym equipment worth over £14,000.

The gym forms part of a wider investment in the outdoor area of the Academy totalling £30,000 this year, including new basketball hoops, an outdoor canopied seating area and potted plants.

Year 7 student Lee Harris, aged 13, who has been on the gym everyday since it arrived, said:

“It’s really enjoyable because it’s fun and you get to exercise every lunchtime. Before we got the gym I was on the football pitch, but I’m really glad we’ve got it now.”

Bethany Davies, aged 13, said:

“It’s great when you are bored and you can come out to the gym and have fun with friends. It doesn’t seem like a gym when you are on it because you are just having fun.”

The new gym equipment on offer for students includes side surfers, riders, air skiers and a seat chest and pull down. Darren Gelder, Principal of Grace Academy Solihull, said the gym and other outdoor improvements are helping to give students a sense of pride in their environment, and added:

“We want to encourage all our students to develop a healthy lifestyle.  Year 7 students were all over the gym from the first day it arrived, mixing, talking and chatting, and it’s a way the students can be involved in some activity who might not otherwise exercise at all at lunch and break times.  The gym also has some activities that are purpose-built for disabled students so it is as inclusive as possible.

“Exercise and brain functions have been closely linked for a long time and it’s good for students to have the opportunity to work hard in class and then run off steam in a purposeful manner outside.”