Providing a wide range of opportunities for everyone of all ages and abilities to be active and healthy is really important to us as a council.
Exciting progress to deliver a brand new, accessible leisure centre in the heart of Kingston town centre continues, with the pool visibly starting to take shape and construction of the basement well underway.
And this month, we entered into a new agreement with Places Leisure that will see further investment in leisure services across the borough.
The new 10-year relationship will see Places invest at least £8.5 million in improved leisure services and upgraded facilities that will better meet the diverse needs of communities across our borough.
Chessington Sports Centre and Albany Outdoors are the first of our leisure sites to come under the new contract, and will benefit from this new investment.
In Chessington, improvements are already underway.
We’ve recently replaced the floodlights with energy-efficient LEDs and the multi-use games areas will be refurbished.
Further investment is planned, including replacing the artificial pitch surfaces.
At outdoor education and water sports centre Albany Outdoors, the additional investment will help expand opportunities for training, holiday camps, and other community activities.
The borough’s other leisure sites - the Malden Centre, Tolworth Recreation Centre and Weir Archer Athletics and Fitness Centre - will come under the new contract from 1 April 2026.
Then, when Kingston’s new leisure centre opens in spring 2027, Places Leisure will become the operator of this too.
We are also working with Places to deliver on our sustainability goals.
They will be investing in energy-saving projects that help reduce the carbon output of sports and leisure facilities, supporting our carbon reduction targets.
You can find out more about our leisure services across Kingston at www.placesleisure.org
As well as improvements to facilities, the council’s Active Kingston team continue their brilliant work to deliver school sports and community activities across the borough.
Last week saw 700 runners from 25 schools taking part in the annual Year 5 and 6 cross-country race, as well as the borough table tennis competition.
Kingston recently secured the ‘Most Improved Borough’ trophy at the annual London Youth Games, with 5 gold medals, 7 silvers and 1 bronze - highlighting our success in boosting youth participation and community involvement through strong links with local clubs and organisations.
We’ve also increased access to physical activity through exercise classes, bicycle access, and additional benches in greenspaces, alongside running Move Well Live Well fairs.
You can find out more about getting active in Kingston whatever your age or ability at www.kingston.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/getting-active
We are committed to continuing our work to offer people an array of options to live as active and healthy lives as possible.
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