Fit-NESS Village Centre

Aim: I would like to build a small gym for the use of our village community next to our village shop and only charge a nominal fee for use.

Who are we?

I am Vanessa,  51, and the owner of the village shop, and forever wanting to improve and diversify our village community facilities. 

I own and run the village shop which is small but busy and I know 90% of people in the village and I know that having a small gym facility would be thrilling for many. 

The photograph is outside our shop where cyclists often congregate and have a drink and refuel. It's an active village and I just want to grow it to the best it can be in terms of health and wellbeing. 

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Why are we crowdfunding?

To build a small, functional and all year round gym on a piece of land next to our village shop.  I have done research and estimate the costs to be around £60,000. This would be for a 30 square metre building and a cable machine, treadmill, free weights, stair stepper, rack, step up box, tension bands and rower. I'm a bit intimidated setting up a charity and finding 3 trustees to be on board with me but if i was to do that, I would apply for grants and take the Not for Profit route. However, as I don't really have 3 trustees, I would like to see if anyone would like to donate money towards the build and then I will ensure a great village benefit would be built and profits would be used to reinvest or grow. I do have some savings of approx £25,000 and am happy to invest all of this into the project but have concerns about borrowing funds as I don't want to have to charge a lot to use the gym as I want it to be accessible to all and therefore don't really want to have to pay a loan back each month. 

If you're applying for extra funding, this is a good place to demonstrate why your project is eligible so refer back to the criteria to help complete this section

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How we’ll spend the money raised

The money raised will fund the building project which is projected to be around £46,000 plus VAT and then the gym equipment stands at around £12,000.

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Community impact

This project would impact my whole community. The nearest gym is 6 miles away and not everyone has the means to travel there. It's not on a straightforward bus route and some of my community who I expect to take advantage of our facility would be the pensioners here to build strength and muscle tone to help in their later years. We would only be able to accommodate three people at a time and we would charge a nominal fee to cover insurance, heating, lighting, funding for new equipment and advertising. I estimate a fee of £12 per month therefore making this a very affordable way of exercising on your doorstep. The gym would be open from 7am - 10pm and members would have an induction and then be able to come and go when they please. The facility would not be staffed.

Earlier this year, a circuit trainer hired our village hall for approx 8 sessions and they proved so popular that not everyone who wanted to go could get a place. However, after the two months, it was announced they would not be returning which was a  blow. In the village there are successful yoga & pilates classes running all year round. 

I anticipate that members of the community who are recovering from injury or joint replacements or mild strokes would be able to meet with personal trainers here and progress their health and fitness. 

The reason I've not created any social media pages for my project is because I live in a small community and run the village shop, I don't want to put my idea out there and get everyone really excited, for it to not happen and feel like a failure for raising peoples hopes. 

Anyone would be able to use the gym, over 18 years of age and we don't discriminate and as we all know, exercise is a valuable tool for anyone of any age, facing many challenges in life.  

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 25th August 2025 at 4:01pm