GREENWICH CENTRE: London 2012 Athletes Join Royal Greenwich For A Spectacular Opening [PHOTOS]

by Our Staff Writer | Greenwich

Councillors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich were joined by Olympians and Paralympians this week (Tuesday 21 July) to officially open The Greenwich Centre, which provides local residents with state of the art leisure, library, health and training facilities under one roof.

Approach to Greenwich Centre is clearly signposted.
(Credit: RBG).

Councillor Denise Hyland, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Councillor Norman Adams, Mayor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich unveiled a plaque in the building whilst Olympian Zoe Smith and Paralympian Andy Barrow put the new gym to the test.

The Greenwich Centre already hosts the third busiest library in the borough following a surge of visitors over the last few weeks.

Built on Vanbrugh Hill in East Greenwich, a short walk from Greenwich Town Centre, the Greenwich Centre is an iconic building which houses first class community facilities including the new leisure centre and library as well as a health facility, crèche and cafe.

The new leisure centre is run for the Council by GLL and features a new six lane main pool and a shallower learner pool, two fitness studios and a state of the art gym with more than 100 pieces of equipment and a free weights area.

L-R: Leader of Royal Greenwich, Cllr. Denise Hyland, David Bolarinwa,
Sprinter Zoe Smith and the Mayor of Royal Greenwich,
Cllr. Norman Adams at the opening of the Greenwich Centre
on Tuesday, 21 July, 2015. (Credit: RBG).

The new library is significantly bigger than the previous library at East Greenwich and is already the third busiest in the borough after just one month. It has longer opening hours, doubling the hours that were available at East Greenwich, and the new library has significantly more books and new computers for users. It’s been designed as a ‘digital hub’ to include 48 new PCs and also has a children’s area with dedicated tablets for children to use. Staff are on hand to help customers make the most of the new IT suite, where they will find it easy and more efficient to access council services online.

The new Greenwich Centre also contains a new NHS health centre which offers a range of health services to local people.

An Adult and Community learning facility, run by Twin Group, will provide a diverse range of courses for residents, international students, individuals and groups.

Councillor Denise Hyland, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: “After just one month The Greenwich Centre has already proved to be a success with the library now the third busiest in the borough! It is a superb building which delivers on our vision of delivering new, modern and more efficient services to residents in three new local centres.

Starting blocks athletes with Senior Officials of the
Royal Borough of Greenwich including Royal Borough Leader
 Cllr Denise Hyland and Mayor, Cllr. Norman Adams.
(Credit: RBG)

As a local authority we have been widely praised for our shrewd financial management – in spite of the cuts we’ve had to make. This is about choosing how and where to invest, and The Greenwich Centre is a perfect example of us delivering a cost-effective strategy which means our residents are getting brand new community facilities while we’re able to continue to freeze council tax for them too.”

Garry Parker, GLL Partnership Manager at the Greenwich Centre said: “The Greenwich Centre is a fantastic new facility for the local community and a great place to work for the staff. The GLL team at the centre are looking forward to forging strong links with fellow stakeholders and working in partnership with them to ensure the local community gain maximum benefit from the diverse range of services available.”

Starting Blocks Athletes With Library Users.
(Credit: RBG).

Caroline Fox, CEO of Twin, the language, training and skills provider, commented: “We are proud and delighted to move into this wonderful new centre and look forward to making our contribution to the local community and economy. We are offering a unique opportunity for young school leavers in the area to develop a career in digital marketing. As well as a diverse range of courses for residents, international students, and groups. For my Twin sister Jacqui and to have come this far from a business-in-a-bedroom, it’s a proud milestone for our company.”

Leader of Royal Borough of Greenwich, Cllr Denise Hyland
showing off one of the two Swimming pools
at The Greenwich Centre, Greenwich.

* Swimming Pool at the Greenwich Centre.
(Credit: RBG).