A £1.7 million investment into Tenby Leisure Centre was celebrated on Friday with the official opening of the newly-refurbished centre.

The centre was opened by the chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council, Clr. Tony Brinsden.

He said: “We hope the fantastic new facilities will make an enormous difference to the health and wellbeing of people in the Tenby area and give them more opportunity to become more active, more often.

“We are very proud of the improvement in leisure services over recent years, and this refurbishment is the last piece of the jigsaw in Pembrokeshire County Council’s £25million ‘Leisure Facility Investment Programme’.

The new facilities at Tenby Leisure Centre include a state-of-the-art fitness suite, a cafe, re-modelled reception area, refurbishment of the changing rooms and a new exercise studio.

The works were carried out by W. G. Evans contractor and managed by Pembrokeshire County Council’s in-house technical services team.

Manager of Tenby Leisure Centre, Darren Bowen, said: “The new facilities are already making a difference to people’s lives. We’ve seen a considerable increase in the number of customers and in how often they visit.”

He continued: “I’m very proud of how the staff have coped with all the changes and continue to ensure that every customer has a great experience.”

The official opening at the leisure centre coincided with Pembrokeshire’s annual Ageing Well event which provides crucial information to people on how to stay safe, active and healthy as they get older.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s social services and leisure directorate teamed up to provide a fantastic programme of activities, including workshops, exercise taster sessions, and health therapies.

The event was supported by Pembrokeshire’s 50 Plus forum, statutory and voluntary organisations and local businesses.

Clr. Simon Hancock, older persons champion for Pembrokeshire, welcomed visitors to the event.

Quoting the Older Person’s Commissioner for Wales, Sarah Rochira, he said: “Ageing well is about being able to continue to do things that matter to us, it is not just about being older or simply living for longer.

“It’s about ensuring that when we are older we have lives that have value, meaning and purpose, lives through which we can contribute to our families, our communities and the wider economy.”