13th April 2026
You’ve no doubt already heard of ‘Friends of’ groups, part of Britain’s legions of volunteers who look after the UK’s thousands of public green spaces in conjunction with the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces.
Fitting an outdoor gym in your local park or other green space could be a smart project. We regularly work closely with Friends of groups to make their dream of an outdoor community fitness hub a reality. Then locals can quickly start to feel the myriad associated benefits.
Here, we go into a little more detail about how we do that, explaining our process step by step:
Free of charge and bespoke, this survey is tailored to your community so that everyone understands what the people who will use the equipment want from their outdoor gym. It considers things like location, age of users, preferred equipment to be fitted (whether mainly for cardio or strength, for example) and so on.
We’ll come and visit your outdoor space without charge or obligation. This consultation is a fantastic opportunity to discuss your project, including the preferred location of the gym, spacing, layout, suitability of the ground, surfacing options, access etc.
Many of our ‘Friends’ groups carry out fundraising to pay for their outdoor facilities. We can give you ideas for how to raise money and supply details of open grant funding streams currently available for you to explore.
Congratulations – your green space is getting its own gym! And you’ll find installation a seamless process. We don’t use subcontractors, only our own, experienced in-house teams. What’s more, your site will be left clean and tidy afterwards.
We supply in-depth information about the equipment we’re fitting and how we’re doing it, in plenty of time, so that there are no surprises when installation takes place. Equally, we’ll gladly answer any questions you may have about this side of things.
With a typical lead time of six to eight weeks from receipt of a signed order, sometimes less, installation usually takes no longer than a day or two maximum, depending on project size.
Launch events are great ways of telling the community about the new amenity and how to use it. Again, we offer advice and support. We can support the event with a qualified PT who can demonstrate the equipment and show the community how to use it. We’ll also provide complementary videos, an app and detailed instructions on each product for getting the most from the equipment.
We provide extensive ongoing support, aftercare and maintenance for outdoor gym equipment to ensure safety, longevity and high levels of customer satisfaction. All this takes the form of a long-term warranty (25 years on structural parts), dedicated support plus optional maintenance contracts.
An outdoor gym offers both physical and mental health benefits when used regularly and this is something as a nation we need to try to improve.
Towards the end of last year, former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield, who is to lead a task force to help people return to the workplace, told the BBC that sickness cost employers in the UK £85bn a year through lost productivity and sick pay, while there were also costs to the wider economy.
He said the rise in sickness was driven by a "surge" in mental health issues among young people and musculoskeletal issues, aches and joint pain in older people that was causing them to leave work.
An outdoor gym can be used by all ages and abilities providing huge benefits for mental health and can keep your community, including older people, active and moving for longer, for free and on their doorstep, overcoming many of the barriers to starting a new fitness routine.
We love working closely with Friends of groups, and, since our establishment in 2007, have fitted numerous outdoor fitness facilities across the UK. Our products suit all ages and abilities while offering a full-body workout.
If you feel your community could benefit, and you run a green space get in touch. We’d be delighted to help – and we’ll be with you every step of the way.
