Pinch punch, first of the month.

And May 1 marks the ten-year anniversary of local Cheshire East based health and wellbeing Charity Everybody Health & Leisure who run Alsager Leisure Centre.

They are set to celebrate with staff, customers and partners including holding a three-day health and fitness event in June 'The Everybody Games'! The leisure centres and cafes will also be handing out prizes to those visiting on the 1st May.

Back in May 2014, the independent charity was formed to operate leisure facilities on behalf of Cheshire East Council. Over the last ten years, the charity has evolved to deliver much more than leisure centre operations and now works with local and regional partners to support the growing health challenges across the borough.

The charities vision is to provide 'Leisure for Life' and seeks to make participation in any recreational or leisure activity an enduring habit from the earliest years to later life. This vision is being realised with the charity turnover nearly doubling now at circa £20million which is the result of growing health and fitness memberships to over 25,000, the learn to swim scheme to over 10,000 members and being awarded grants to provide targeted health and wellbeing programmes for people with long term health conditions and rehabilitation.

The collaboration with local partners and the delivery of the health and wellbeing programmes has seen the charity be recognised with several accolades including the Social Value Award (Cheshire & Merseyside Partnership 2022), Contribution to the Community Awards (South Cheshire Chamber Awards 2022) and NHS Recondition the Nation - Gold Medal Award 2024.

The charity also employs over 1000 people and was awarded the 'Best Company to Work For' at the North East Cheshire Chamber Awards 2022 as well as achieving Investors in People (IIP) accreditation.

Health & fitness memberships isn't all that is on offer at Everybody, they also have a network of volunteers who have recently celebrated 50,000 hours of volunteering for local community activities and groups, disability and inclusion programmes, active holiday schemes, Everybody Academy training, Taste for Life Cafes, Bikeability cycle training and so much more!

Everybody has reinvested back into the communities over the years and worked closely with Cheshire East Council to ensure the facilities have been redeveloped and updated with the latest fitness technology and equipment. Last year saw the launch of the brand-new Congleton Leisure Centre which now welcomes thousands of new members as well as upgrades in Wilmslow, Crewe, Holmes Chapel and Poynton.

The estate has grown outside of the Cheshire East Council facilities with Everybody partnering with Holmes Chapel Parish Council in 2016 to bring back to life Holmes Chapel Community Centre, which has now become a hub of the community including gym, fitness studios, spa, café, training rooms and events space. In 2019, Everybody partnered with Bruntwood SciTech to build and operate a brand-new state of the art leisure venue Everybody Alderley Park which has the only immersive Les Mills The Trip cycling studio in the borough and most recently introduced Pure Padel courts to enhance the outdoor sport provision.

CEO Thomas Barton commented: "We are extremely proud of how hard Everybody has worked over the last ten years to achieve such great things as a leading health and wellbeing charity in Cheshire East. We now have a much deeper understanding of the local health needs and have enjoyed working with others to support our local communities in leading healthier lifestyles and delivering the shared long-term vision of helping people to live well and for longer.'

He continued: "'but we aren't done yet. There's so much more to come from our charity including redevelopments and upgrades in Sandbach, Shavington, Knutsford and Alsager, the Cumberland Arena development, delivering the new Bikeability contract, enhancing our customer experience with new technology and delivering new targeted health programmes.'

Everybody Chairman of Trustees Andrew Kolker commented: "Every year I am pleased to see how we have been able to develop facilities and targeted services which continue to remove barriers for more and more people in our local community to take part in physical activity and look after their health.'

He continued. 'I am very much looking forward to being part of the ten-year celebrations and encourage people of all ages and abilities to support us at the Everybody Games in Congleton this June. If you can't make it – be sure to visit your local leisure centre and see what else is on offer for you and your families to take part in!'

To find out more about Everybody Health & Leisure and how they are celebrating ten years with upcoming events, offers and awards visit: everybody.org.uk For more information about the Everybody Games visit: The Everybody Games • Everybody Health & Leisure.