OPENED in 2008, Grove Wellbeing Centre was unique and the first of its kind to offer health, leisure and library facilities all under one roof.
Located on York Road in North Belfast, it represents a partnership between Belfast City Council, Belfast Health Trust and Belfast Education and Library Board and later social enterprise GLL, Better Belfast.
To say the leisure centre offers something for everyone is often a cliché but at Grove, there really is. From two swimming pools, a martial arts studio, soft-play area, sports hall, gym and even a café, Grove has it all.
Paul McFarland, General Manager at Grove explained: “Grove is a unique leisure centre given our partnership with the Health Trust and Library Board. It is more a general wellbeing centre.
“It has been here since 2008 and is really at the heart of the community this side of North Belfast.
“On the ground floor, we have Orchard Café as part of our social enterprise. It is fantastic for anybody who wants to come in and have a cup of tea or coffee, grab a bite to eat or get something healthy after their gym workout.
“In the centre, we offer something for everyone. We have two fantastic pools – a 6 x 25m six-lane pool which is great for lane swimming, family-fun activities and competitive sport.
“Our Better Swim School operates Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and we offer adult and swim baby lessons on a Tuesday morning.
“We also have a toddler pool which is great for anyone who wants to come along with young children. The pool temperature is constantly kept at 31 degrees which is nice and warm. We run over 25 parent and toddler sessions a week.
“We have a soft-play area which is great for birthday parties. We also run walk-in sessions throughout the week for as little as £2.45.
“Our Martial Arts Centre is unique for a leisure centre with proper floor and air conditioning.
“It is a great facility for local clubs and operates throughout the whole week.”
Moving upstairs and there are more facilities in the shape of multi-purpose studios, sports hall and a gym.
“We have some multi-purpose studios which are used for all our fitness classes from group cycle to circuit training and cardiac rehab,” continued Paul.
“We also have our main sports hall, heavily focused on trampolining. We offer lessons for kids as little as five-years-old, taking them right through to a competitive pathway to 18-years-of-age.
“Our 70-station gym has the most up-to-date Technogym equipment, a free weights area and fantastic functional training area.
“If you are interested in any of our facilities, come down, speak to one of our team, have a cup of coffee and we will be glad to show you what we have to offer here at Grove.”
For more information, visit the website here or for download the Better UK app.
