Blackbridge Community and Sports Hub

🚿 Update on Shower Facilities

We are currently experiencing operational issues with our showers and they are therefore unavailable at present.

We expect the showers to be back in service from Thursday morning.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding.

🌟 Join Our Team – Community Connector 🌟

Blackbridge Community & Sports Hub is looking for a passionate and people-focused Community Connector to help make a real difference in our local community.

This exciting role will involve building relationships with local organisations, supporting residents to access activities and services, reducing barriers to participation, and helping people improve their health, wellbeing and social connections.

We're looking for someone who:
✅ Is enthusiastic about community engagement
✅ Has excellent communication and relationship-building skills
✅ Is passionate about improving health and wellbeing ✅ Can work collaboratively with partners and local residents
✅ Wants to help create stronger, healthier and more connected communities

If you enjoy connecting people with opportunities and making a positive impact every day, we'd love to hear from you.

Help us create a thriving community where everyone has the opportunity to be active, connected and well.
Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society
Active Gloucestershire
https://www.freedom-leisure.co.uk/jobs/community-connector-part-time-blackbridge-community-and-sports-hub-72b695d182/

www.freedom-leisure.co.uk Freedom Leisure is one of the UK’s leading not-for-profit leisure trusts, managing leisure and cultural facilities in partnership with local authorities and communities. Our mission is simple: to improve lives through leisure by promoting health, wellbeing, and social inclusion. We believe that ev...

Movement is Medicine - Gerry's Story:

In 2007, I stepped into retirement a year earlier than planned - not out of choice, but because my health gave me no alternative. Years of stress had taken their toll, and suddenly my world became very small.

For over a year, I couldn’t leave the house on my own. My husband was still working, so most days I was alone, confined within four walls. I felt isolated, stuck, and deeply depressed. Life, as I had known it, felt like it had slipped away.

But something inside me knew this couldn’t be the end of my story.

So I made a start - small, almost impossibly small.
I began by stepping outside the front door and walking a little way up the road. Some days, I couldn’t even make it to the end of the drive. I would turn back, exhausted. But I kept trying.

At home, I turned to gentle yoga sessions on my computer. Those moments became a lifeline - helping me reconnect with my body, giving me a sense of control and awareness I thought I had lost.

Then one day, I reached the post box at the top of the road. It might seem insignificant to others, but to me, it was everything. It was proof that progress was possible.

That small victory led to a big promise: before another year passed, I would join a gym.

Walking through those doors changed my life. Movement gave me energy again - but just as importantly, it gave me connection.
I was no longer alone.
I was part of something.
I was seeing people, sharing spaces, feeling human again.

When my husband retired in 2009, I persuaded him to join the bowls club with me. It was the perfect combination: gentle exercise and a strong sense of community - a double blessing.

From that point on, I never stopped moving.

The gym became part of my weekly rhythm. I walked to the shops, played bowls, and even took up netball umpiring for my daughter’s team. I did that for years - until my joints gently told me it was time to step back. Decades of ballet and sport had led to osteoarthritis, but even that couldn’t stop me.

Because I had learned something powerful: the more I moved, the more I could move.

Life carried on, with its ups and downs. My arthritis worsened over time, and I underwent several foot operations. But I refused to return to a place of being housebound. Movement became my medicine - keeping me independent, mobile, and positive.

Then came some of life’s hardest chapters. My husband suffered a stroke and later passed away. Within a short space of time, I also lost my mother and one of my brothers, while another was diagnosed with dementia. It was overwhelming - wave after wave of grief and stress.

And yet, through it all, I kept moving.

Most recently, I underwent a femoral artery repair. Just five days later, I was back at the gym. Not doing much - just a few careful minutes on the treadmill and cross trainer - but enough to keep the habit alive.
Because I know how hard it is to start again if you stop.

Today, I live with arthritis from my neck to my feet - but most people would never know.
That is not luck.
That is movement.
That is consistency.
That is resilience.

And it is also community.

Places like Blackbridge Community & Sports Hub are so much more than gyms. They are lifelines. They are spaces where people rediscover not just their physical strength, but their confidence, their purpose, and their connection to others. They remind us that we are never alone - and that it is never too late to begin again.

My message is simple, and I share it from the heart:

Keep moving.
However slowly. However gently. Just keep moving.

Because movement isn’t just about exercise - it’s about freedom, independence, and hope.

If my story helps even one person take that first step, then it has been worth sharing.

- Gerry
Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society

Start your journey at Blackbridge Community and Sports Hub - we'll be with you every step of the way:
https://www.freedom-leisure.co.uk/centres/blackbridge-community-and-sports-hub/enquire-now-options/

Just 90–120 minutes of strength training a week could reduce the risk of early death by around 13%!

A powerful reminder that even small changes can make a real difference to your health.
If you’re looking to get started, we're here to support you 👉 https://www.freedom-leisure.co.uk/centres/

🔗 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r2lekenlpo

Does two hours of strength training a week reduce the risk of dying early? Regular weight training can help you keep fit and strengthen muscles to live longer, research suggests.

🌍 Today is World Environment Day 2026!

Environmental sustainability is a core focus at Freedom Leisure and the way we impact the climate truly matters to us.

We’re working hard behind the scenes to reduce our impact and you can help too. Take a look through the images to see simple actions you can take when visiting your centre.

Every action is a signal. What will yours be?

Thank you for helping us keep your centre sustainable 💙

Your fitness, your way. 🧘‍♂️🏊‍♀️🏃

Whether you love the gym, classes or a social space, we’ve got the perfect membership deal for you this June:

🌟 HALF-PRICE June!

Freedom Leisure is more than just fitness, it’s your community wellness hub. 💙
Ready to feel great? Join today!
Click here to enquire: https://ow.ly/1Wat50Z254f
Click here to join: https://flgloucester.gladstonego.cloud/memberships?siteId=BB

T’s & C’s and other restrictions apply. See below for details.

Gym Membership Deals | Latest Offers | Freedom Leisure Looking to get active this Summer? Take a look at our fantastic 2026 gym membership deals - but hurry, offers are time limited!

🍻 Join us at Social Club every Wednesday night! 🍻

Come on down and enjoy a couple of beverages right here at Blackbridge!

See you there 👀

Our priority partners at Old Cryptians Girls met with Princess Ann for the opening of our amazing Blackbridge Community& Sports Hub.
After a season of winning practically every single game, they’re back in action in June for pre-season.
New and returning players welcome – just turn up on 4th June at 6pm at the Memorial Ground, Tuffley Avenue!

Sunday!

HIIT / Abs / Studio Cycling

A lot of people spend Sundays getting ready for everyone else.

School uniforms. Food shopping. Jobs around the house.

This is a little reminder that your own wellbeing matters too.

Sometimes one hour can set the tone for the week ahead.