On February 23, Bancroft Fitness celebrated their receipt of an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant of over $70,000, which will allow for building upgrades at their gym space in Bancroft.
The date also happened to be the two-year anniversary of Bancroft Fitness at its current downtown location.
The gym was started over 20 years ago by Dr Carolyn Brown, who had a vision for exercise and rehabilitation that was accessible for everyone. To this day it remains not for profit.
Dr Brown spoke about how they got started, when many years ago her and a colleague wanted to find a way to help people get better after injuries:
“At that point Angela Perreira was a kinesiologist in a tiny little spot in the bottom of Billa St.” said Dr. Brown, “And we got together and said, ‘let’s make a clinic’. It took quite a while to get there but you just keep working away a bit more, a bit more, a bit more. And then it happens”
The gym has expanded into cardiac and pulmonary rehab, and will be expanding into a ‘lower limb preservation project’. On top of a wide array of gym equipment it also offers a variety of classes from chair yoga to HiiT training.
They say that, thanks in part to the grant which allowed them to update their HVAC system, they hope to have a new hydrotherapy pool up and running by May.
MPP Ric Bresee was at the event, along with Mayor Paul Jenkins. Dr Brown and members of the Family Health team acknowledged their gratitude to the province and the town of Bancroft, saying without them they couldn’t have made such accessible fitness and rehabilitation happen.
For more information, check out Bancroft Fitness online.
