Families flock to Cornwall leisure centres for weekend of free fun

Free swimming. Free tennis. Free pickleball. For two days, nine leisure centres across Cornwall dropped every price tag they had, and plenty of people turned up to find out where the catch was. There wasn’t one.

A weekend of free sport across Cornwall

The Team England National Sports Weekend ran on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July at nine Better leisure centres in Cornwall, opening up a range of sports and activities to anyone who fancied a go, with no membership or payment needed.

On offer were badminton, pickleball, tennis, swimming, gym sessions, yoga, table tennis and group cycling. There was something for the curious first-timer and the seasoned regular alike.

The weekend was open to members and non-members, which made it an easy way for families, friends and individuals to see exactly what their local leisure centre has to offer. You can find the full list of Cornwall’s Better leisure centres and what each one runs.

Building up to the Commonwealth Games

The event was staged by charitable social enterprise GLL in partnership with Team England, timed to build a bit of excitement ahead of the Commonwealth Games, which open in Glasgow this week.

Karen Edmond of GLL said the two days delivered.

“We had a fantastic turnout on both Saturday and Sunday,” Karen said. “It was a great opportunity to celebrate with Team England and recognise how sport inspires communities to come together, get active and experience all the benefits of their local public leisure facilities and programmes.”