More Than Meets The Eye
Jacinta Simmons | Acting Assistant Manager
The YMCA has been a strong local presence in Broken Hill for over 110 years, continuously providing high quality programs to meet community needs. As one of the most long-lived and well-loved local organisations in the city, we have always sought to respond to community needs for health, fitness, wellness and activities that promote social opportunities for all ages. Today, the YMCA Broken Hill is a very strong organisation, everyday fulfilling its mission to look after our community in mind, body and spirit, and uphold our strong belief in the power of inspired young people.
We do this work in our two magnificent sites, the newly refurbished Integrated Wellness Centre, which is our traditional site and the Regional Aquatic Centre, which is contract managed on behalf of the Broken Hill City Council. The traditional site was a character filled but dilapidated meld of buildings and most of the floor space not functional for our needs prior to renovations starting in 2018. With financial support from all three levels of government and Maari Ma Health, and a great groundswell of support from the community, the YMCA NSW undertook the $5.4 million refurbishment of the old building. Retaining heritage features of the building was very important as well as creating a facility that would meet the needs of the community today and into the future. We can proudly say that those aims have been met and we have a safe, secure building that is fully inclusive with complete disability access.
The Wellness Centre was opened in January 2019 after a refurbishment which saw our ageing building emerge as a state of the art world-class facility with designated spaces for training (strength, functional, resistance and cardio), group fitness, children’s activities, squash, crèche, spin room and a half stadium for sports and birthday parties. Our group fitness floor offers a wide variety of classes starting from the early morning and going through until the evening. Our youth hub space and programs sees the Y return to its youth empowerment roots, and our community meeting rooms and healthy food options at the Wellness Café encourage a wide variety of visitors to the centre daily. The merchandise area has the latest in YMCA gear and Lorna Jane workout gear. Our fitness facilities are brand new and state of the art and you will always find a welcoming staff member to help you navigate the equipment or tell you about our classes. Our fitness staff are highly qualified health and fitness professionals and are here to ensure our members and visitors enjoy every visit.
The Broken Hill Regional Aquatic Centre is a high quality multi pool aquatic complex which includes indoor and outdoor pools, a children’s wading pool, a hydro pool and a 50m outdoor pool. This facility also boasts a boutique gym and a great café space with merchandise area. The grassed areas of the complex are much sought after in warmer months for relaxing in the sun after a cool swim.
Together, we have created a community space that is much more than a gym or leisure centre. We’ve worked hard to ensure we deliver services that support the wellness of people of all ages, from all backgrounds and all abilities in the community. We look forward to welcoming you at ether of our fantastic facilities today.
