Take a tumble at Benfield

The gymnastics centre at the improved Benfield Community Sports Complex in Northumbria has been rated one of the best in Europe because of its sunken tumble tracks.

The regional gymnastics centre was created when the school facilities were improved in November 2001 following an investment of £2.1m from Sport England towards total project costs of £3.5m.

Now it is used as a training venue for the European boys team, Commonwealth teams and for national team training.

In addition to the gymnastics centre, the improved complex was given a six-court sports hall to add to the existing facilities like a 20m swimming pool, two small gymnasia and a pavilion for outdoor sports.

Benfield Community Sports Complex factfile:

• The complex has the largest ethnic sports programme in the North East
• Newcastle Eagles, Benfield Lions and Northumbria University basketball teams use the facility
• Northumbria county badminton squads are based at the centre
• Annual usage increased from 15,200 to 91,458 helping Sport England towards its target of increasing participation by 1% a year up to 2020
• 12 new jobs have been created
• The complex is open for over 90 hours per week
• The number of coaching hours for the Under 18’s has risen to 175
• Disabled usage has increased from 1,000 to 4,600
• The number of coaches has increased significantly from 29 to 75

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