World Number One Archer and Gold Medalist Officially Opens Ipswich's New Affordable Gym

Ipswich’s world number one compound archer, Commonwealth gold medallist and Olympic hopeful Nicky Hunt today (17 Feb) officially opened The Gym, Ipswich in the former St Matthews Baths.

The new affordable gym in Civic Drive opened to the public in the centre of Ipswich in January offering state-of-the-art workout stations for just £12.99 per month. Suffolk-based Abbeycroft Leisure, a Suffolk and Haverhill Chamber of Commerce member, is behind the new gym, one of a small number of leisure trusts in the UK embarking on such a venture. Abbeycroft is a social enterprise so all profits made from the gym will go back into providing health and fitness.

Abbeycroft has carried out a major refurbishment of the building which features a stunning vaulted Victorian roof.

Archer Nicky Hunt performed the opening ceremony by cutting a ribbon in front of invited guests from the local community including the Mayor of Ipswich Cllr Jane Chambers.

2010 was a fantastic year for Nicky in which she made three of the four World Cup stage gold medal finals, taking home 2 silver and 1 gold medal and is now ranked number one in the world. She finished the season with individual and team gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi - England's first archery gold medal at the Commonwealth Games for 28 years. As compound archery is not an Olympic sport, Nicky has switched back to the recurve bow she loved as a junior to pursue her Olympic dream. She has been accepted onto the Archery GB program and is now training for London 2012.

Nicky said: “I am delighted to be invited to open Abbeycroft’s new gym in my hometown of Ipswich. It is really important that people in the town have access to high quality fitness facilities that are affordable. My love of sport and archery came about because I joined a club that my brother belonged to and it was relatively inexpensive to attend. This is exactly what we need in the town to compliment other fitness facilities, to get people looking after their bodies and develop a passion for keeping fit and healthy.”

The new gym is on two floors with one hundred Matrix fitness stations including a first for Suffolk - the brand new Virtual Active experience, a revolutionary workout experience which simulates climbing, running and hiking along some of the world’s most beautiful landmarks.

The new gym offers a stunning place to work out and high quality fitness machines at just £12.99 per month. The gym has created seven new jobs including a club manager, assistant manager, fitness instructor and four personal trainers.

Warren Smyth, Chief Executive of Abbeycroft Leisure, said: “We are so pleased that Nicky was able to open our new affordable gym. She has achieved so much in the last few years and is a real inspiration for people in the town. We will be supporting Nicky in the coming year in her bid to compete in the London 2012 Olympics.”

For more information on The Gym Ipswich visit www.thegymipswich.co.uk  or telephone 0800 699 0147.