Watch: Inside new 24-hour gym coming to Penarth

Anytime Fitness, which is at Windsor Road (opposite Windsor Lane) is planning on opening at its new site at the end of October after building work began last month, and staff at the gym have spoken about why they are optimistic.

“We’d initially planned to open in February but we had to change contractors and then coronavirus hit, so it’s been really delayed,” said manager Garry Morris.

“The challenge now is making sure those who expressed an interest when the plans were first mooted in 2017 decide they still want to come here.

“We’re hoping we can develop an environment where we’re a really community-based facility. We want to know everyone’s names and be on board with other businesses.”

The gym has already received support from Foxy’s, Wilmore’s and Umpa Lumpa Sweet Shop, who will be joining them for a coffee morning fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support next Friday (September 25).

“We know Macmillan has been hit during the pandemic with so many fundraising events cancelled, so we thought it was a good idea to do this and to be able to meet other businesses and residents,” said assistant manager Nathan Tucker.

“We’d like as many local businesses to come as possible, and we’ll be setting up outside.

“There’ll also be prizes to be won like free personal training sessions and possible discounts on memberships.”

On the challenge of opening a new gym during a pandemic, Mr Morris said: “It’s a huge test for us. People have found new ways to exercise during the pandemic, and some might be anxious about coming.

“For us it’s about making sure people are comfortable and confident to come here.

“The benefit is we are starting from scratch, so we are starting in a socially distanced manner. That means we’ll be ditching 30 per cent of the equipment for now to make sure there is space for people to distance while they are using the equipment.

Nathan (L) and Garry at Anytime Fitness Penarth

“We’re happy to be led by members. If our feedback is people want more rowers, we’ll ditch more equipment for more rowers. It has to be about making sure we’re providing a space where people want to come and exercise.”

To help people feel less anxious about going to the gym, they have teamed up with Excalibur Cleaning Ltd to ensure the place is as covid-proof as possible, and have also employed full-time cleaners.

Class timetables for the gym will be released online on Monday at https://www.anytimefitness.co.uk/gyms/uk-0189/penarth-wales-cf64-1jl/.

To sign up to the Macmillan coffee morning, call the team on 029 2009 9247. There are 10 slots per hour between 10am and 3pm to enable social distancing.