It was a huge pleasure last week to join the Mayor of Crawley, councillors and guests, to see the original plaques opening Crawley Sports Hall being given pride of place at our very modern leisure centre, K2 Crawley.
And it was a very special welcome for Barry Richards, who made the journey from Banbury, Oxfordshire. It marked a very special occasion as Barry was a young Labour councillor, when the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson opened the original Crawley Leisure Centre almost exactly half a century ago to the day, fresh from his second General Election win of that year.
It was lovely to have someone present who has physically made it from the original plaque unveiling to this one.
Delivering first class sport and leisure facilities has long been central to the Council ethos. It very much continues today in conjunction with our centre management, Everyone Active.
The Council’s ongoing investment and support along with the commitment of many volunteers and clubs has enabled the town to consistently outperform other towns of our size. Olympic and Paralympic medallists, world champions, international footballers and of course even the England Football Manager have all grown up using the fabulous sports facilities and opportunities in our town.
Beyond this elite level success however, sport plays a vital role in our residents’ health and wellbeing. It was a delight to meet some users of K2 Crawley who have been using our leisure centres for 50 years and running clubs for over 30!
K2 Crawley now achieves around 1.4 million visits per annum, significantly beyond the 1 million expected when K2 was built, (which in itself was nearly double the number of visits to the old Crawley Leisure Centre).
And this special event was about celebrating that proud heritage. When the old leisure centre in Three Bridges was being taken down, the plaques were carefully removed and put into storage. They only came to light in the Town Hall move and when I saw them I was determined this historic record of achievement should be brought out on public display once more as a permanent reminder to our users that Crawley Borough Council has provided sporting and leisure facilities for many years and will, I hope, do so for many years to come.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council