YMCA Ballarat is making a new bid to improve accessibility to exercise equipment in Ballarat.
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The organisation is hoping to install a community park gym in Delacombe with the help of a state government funded Pick My Project grant.
YMCA Ballarat health promotions officer Georgia Savage and Delacombe resident Peta Baum have a vision for exercise equipment to be installed along the 1.5km walking track at Doug Dean Reserve.
All members of the community would be able to access the equipment any time at no cost.
Ms Savage said the YMCA team had been working with the supplier to choose equipment for use by all aged groups.
“The difficulty to access gym equipment in Ballarat now is just another reason to prevent people from achieving the 30 minutes of physical activity the government recommends every day,” she said.
“I think removing those barriers and making it as available as possible is a really wonderful thing to do –whether that is by making it free or putting it in front of people’s faces a little bit more, I think that it is important to address accessibility issues.”
The Courier understands Victory Park in Sebastopol to be the only park in Ballarat with outdoor gym equipment.
There could be that little extra thing of challenging yourself and saying ‘this week, let’s see if I can do a couple of extra chin ups’.
- Peta Baum, Delacombe resident
The idea for the equipment at Doug Dean Reserve was first raised in community consultation in 2017.
The plan details 11 pieces of equipment located at five stations around the walking track encouraging users to complete exercises in cardio, balance and strength fitness, with information boards on how to use the equipment.
It would form part of YMCA’s strategy to promote health and wellbeing.
Australia Health Tracker 2014-15 data revealed 36.4 per cent of adults in Delacombe were obese, much higher than the national average of 27.9 per cent and Victorian average of 26.7 per cent.
Delacombe Walking Group coordinator Peta Baum said if installed, the equipment would likely be well used by walking group members and existing users of the reserve, while also attracting new visitors.
She has seen similar set ups at parks in Warrnambool and Camperdown while on holiday.
“It’s an incentive to try different ways of exercising and using muscles in different ways.”
Ms Baum has embarked on her own exercise journey throughout the past six years, losing 60 kg more than five years ago and keeping it off by walking with the Delacombe group three times a week.
“It would be so beneficial for young people and older people – there could be that little extra thing of challenging yourself and saying ‘this week, let’s see if I can do a couple of extra chin ups’,” she said.
“That has been part of my own philosophy in the last six years, thinking ‘hey, I can do that’.”
The project is budgeted just under $72,000.
Ballarat community members can vote for three projects as part of the new Pick My Project grants scheme.
Visit pickmyproject.vic.gov.au/rounds/pick-my-project/ideas/delacombe-community-park-gym for more information and to vote.
READ ABOUT SOME OF BALLARAT’S OTHER PICK MY PROJECT IDEAS: