Observer Gym of the Year winner revealed

Since January, we have asked you to vote for who you thought should be given the coveted crown of the best gym in the area. We wanted you to take into consideration what it was that you thought gave your gym the edge, what lifted it above its rivals and gave you what you wanted.

And you did, thanks to the strength of this year’s entrants we’ve had hundreds of votes registered for the gyms that featured in the top 10. But in the end there could be only one winner – Westgate Leisure Centre in Chichester.

Mmanager Stuart Mills said: “Everyone at Westgate Leisure, Chichester, is really pleased that we have won the Observer’s Gym of the Year competition.

“Our gym is very friendly and we’re proud of the service that we offer across the centre, from the fantastic equipment to our staff who work exceptionally hard to help everyone achieve their goals.

“We pride ourselves on being very community focused and inclusive. For example, we run a junior gym for 12-year-olds and up while some of our adult customers are aged in their late 1980s.

“We also want to help people keep active who have medical conditions so our staff are trained in the Active for Health programme. We cater for all fitness levels, from those who want to keep moving to elite athletes training at the highest level – we are there to help everyone.”

Westgate Leisure, provided by Chichester District Council, has a swimming pool, leisure pool, splash area, sports hall, two squash/racket ball courts, two aerobics/dance studios, a gym, café, health suite and skate park.

In second place came Chichester Racquets and Fitness Club and in third place came Westgate Leisure Bourne in Emsworth.

Chichester Racquets and Fitness Club has nine tennis courts, five squash/racketball courts, a 2,000 sq ft gym with a free weights/resistance equipment area plus a cardiovascular training zone, a large exercise studio, spa pool, sauna and steam room, as well as bar and restaurant with outdoor terrace.

Westgate Leisure Bourne has a sports hall with four badminton courts, basketball, netball, volleyball, tennis, five-a-side football and uni-hockey, a separate sports hall with one badminton court, and aerobics/dance studio, gym and multi-use game area.

We thank all the gyms that participated and hope that they all enter again next year to see if they can win in 2017.

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