Cannock leisure facilities see one million visitors

Almost one million people visited leisure centres, Cannock Park Golf Course, Prince of Wales Theatre and the Museum of Cannock Chase between April 2014 and March this year.

That compares to 839,000 in the previous 12 months – an increase of 13 per cent.

Leisure facilities across Cannock are run by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, WLCT, on behalf of Cannock Chase Council. Bosses say they are delighted that 945,342 visits have been made to all their sites.

In a statement released by the trust, it states: "WLCT has a clear vision to inspire people to choose healthier, more active and creative lifestyles.

"We aim to achieve this through the provision of a wide range of leisure and cultural opportunities – maximising the impact that can be made to the most disadvantaged individuals, families and hard to reach groups across the district.

"The partnership established between WLCT and CCDC continues to go from strength to strength."

More than 1,700 people in total are currently signed up to take swimming lessons at the district's two major leisure centres at Chase and Rugeley.

Since April 2012, WLCT has been running the authority's major leisure and culture venues in the town.

They have ploughed £1.8m worth of investment into the facilities during the period including £58,000 for new equipment at Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock.

Attendances at the Chase and Rugeley leisure centres racked up 783,000 visits between them last year compared to 705,000 in the previous period – an 11 per cent increase.

While junior visitors to Chase Leisure Centre were up by 20 per cent –- 134,727 compared to 112,043.

Swimming activity increased by 21 per cent at the two centres with more than 344,000 users to both pools in the year.

The Prince of Wales Theatre enjoyed a stellar year with more than 54,000 visitors and attendances in excess of 46,000 people.

But it was not a completely clean bill of health for the trust and decreasing numbers of visitors to the Museum of Cannock Chase in Hednesford was earmarked as one of the major areas for improvement.

There were 33,796 attendances compared to a target of 37,500 following the introduction of a new £100,000 mining exhibition.

The trust said the figures were 'disappointing' but staff had an action plan to boost numbers in the coming months.