Sandwell Leisure Trust’s Smethwick Swimming Centre (SSC) on Thimblemill Road recently benefited from a £120,000 investment to upgrade the fitness equipment and uplift the gym area itself.

Several new best-of-class cardio products have been installed - including an IC7 spin bike, Cybex Sparc trainer (for fat loss and strength building) and Concept 2 Ski Erg (based on Nordic skiing) – which were all a first for the West Midlands.

New equipment from the premium LifeFitness Elevation range is also available, which features the latest ‘Discover Cardio’ consoles offering touch screen console technology for TV and app compatibility - to track progress, access personalized workouts and serve as an in-workout display.

Lynda Bateman, Chair of Sandwell Leisure Trust Board, explains: “We are committed to investing to provide an excellent range of quality fitness facilities at Sandwell’s sport and leisure centres for all our members and local residents to enjoy, keeping them healthy and helping them achieve personal targets and goals.”

Cllr Richard Marshall, Sandwell’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, adds: “We are delighted to work in partnership with SLT and to see the continued investment here in Smethwick paying dividends. Sandwell Council has made significant investment in new sport and leisure facilities in Sandwell and we work hard with all our partners to find new ways to get more people active in the borough.’

The initial investment also included a brand new sauna as well as new floors, toilets and showers to compliment the facility and offer members a complete leisure experience. It was delivered in partnership with Sven Saunas Ltd who is the leading provider of saunas to the leisure industry.

An additional £50,000 was spent on transforming a previously under-utilised meeting room into a new state-of-the-art spin studio (which opened earlier this month) also with IC7 bikes and a MyRide virtual indoor cycling system that allows first timers and experienced spinners alike to experience world level classes with and without an instructor.

SSC Centre Manager Sean Ryan adds: “We’re very keen to offer members more variety and scope and spin classes were certainly in demand, but with literally no further space to utilise in the studio we decided to overhaul the meetings room that was only used for internal gatherings and an occasional member of the public hire.

“With the additional spin members it will bring this extra new facility won’t take long to pay for itself either, plus we’re fully delivering on our pledge of enhancing the customer experience.”

Next up is a £5,000 facelift spend on the popular dance studio – resulting in a total spend of £175,000 to make Smethwick Swimming Centre one of the very best leisure facilities around.

Tipton library will be hosting its sixth annual local history day later this month when they will remember friend of the library Alf Breakwell who passed away earlier this year.

Everyone is invited to the event on Saturday 23 September between 10.30am and 12.30pm.

Exhibitions on show will include a selection of images from the Palethorpes archive plus stalls, a cake sale and a talk about the history of local firm Walters Funerals.

Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for leisure Councillor Richard Marshall said: “Alf was 91. He was a member of the Tipton Home Guard and a regular visitor to the library where he always brought a home-made sponge cake in to share

“As a tribute, the local history group are hosting the Breakwell Bake Off - a cake competition to find the best sandwich cake or loaf cake in the area.”

Entry forms are available from all Tipton libraries and Alf’s son and daughter will be on the judging panel.

Authors Carol Hathorne and Joanne Webster will be launching their new books at the event and live music will be provided by the Scarbelly Blues Band.

Community library manager Robert Hazel added: “The Friends of the library are encouraging local people to come in and share their old school photos for an exhibition next year called ‘Days of Our Lives’.

“There will be other community stalls and a home-made cake stall – so come along and enjoy a bostin day.”

World-class esports have a new home in the entertainment capital of the world. Blizzard Entertainment today unveiled Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a cutting-edge live-event destination for pro players, esports fans, and everyone else who loves premier competition. Situated in the legendary Burbank Studios, once home to groundbreaking television shows, the studio at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles has been custom-tailored to support an exciting live-event experience for local attendees and broadcast audiences around the world. When the Arena opens for business on October 7, top competitors from across Blizzard esports will be the newest stars to shine on one of the most celebrated stages in television history.

“We’re at a tipping point for esports and we look forward to helping usher in a new era of competition-based entertainment,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “As we open the doors of Blizzard Arena Los Angeles and welcome fans from around the world, we’re honored to bring the best in Blizzard esports to the same stage that some of the biggest names in entertainment have called home.”

With multiple sound stages, control rooms, and practice facilities, Blizzard Arena Los Angeles was built to support a full slate of competitive events year-round. In addition, the Burbank, California arena will house a Blizzard retail store that rotates stock for event attendees based on the competitions taking place at the time.

Blizzard Arena Los Angeles will open its doors to the public for the first time on the weekend of October 7–8 with the Overwatch Contenders Season One Playoffs taking center stage. The culmination of a summer of formidable European and North American competition, the Overwatch Contenders Playoffs will crown the top Contenders teams in each region.

Beginning October 13, the Hearthstone® Championship Tour’s Summer Championship will bring top-notch Hearthstone pros to the Arena for a full weekend of competition, with $250,000 on the line. The global tournament will conclude the third act of the HCT and set the table for the Hearthstone World Championship, taking place in early 2018.

The early battles of both the Heroes of the Storm® Global Championship (HGC) Finals and World of Warcraft® Arena Championship will be held at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles in late October, with top Heroes of the Storm and WoW® Arena players looking to fight their way onto the championship stages at BlizzCon®, Blizzard’s annual community celebration in Anaheim, California, taking place November 3–4.

Then, later this year, some of the top Overwatch® players in the world will take their first steps toward stardom at the Arena when the Overwatch League opens a new era in professional esports. With the players leading the way, the city-based franchises of the Overwatch League have their sights set on establishing a new standard for esports excellence.

Despite 46% of millennials moving rental property on average every three to four years, new research shows this age group are investing in mobile gardens that can be easily transported in an Uber - a practical and rewarding solution to many who may be destined to a lifetime of renting.

The study of over 2,000 people commissioned by gardening brand, Miracle-Gro found that for 53% of millennials in Birmingham, renting actively encourages them to create a garden so they can make their space ‘more of their own’. 39% are also driven by the desire to have an area to relax and rewind.

To this end, of Birmingham’s Generation Rent, 29% have reported they have created a mobile garden in their leased property - across spaces as varied as balconies, rooftops and courtyards – with a further 31% of this audience considering one for the future.

The most frequently purchased garden items amongst the 18-34s are flowers and plants followed by vegetables and herbs. 21% in Birmingham are growing plants or vegetables from seed, which shows the large proportion of millennials who are green-fingered, with the knowledge and initiative to tend to a garden. Birmingham dwellers are more likely to invest in clean air plants (20%) than the national average (18%), considering their urban environment.

Millennials in the UK put more value on having access to a garden or a balcony than older age groups. 18-34s in Birmingham are prepared to spend £123 on average on top of their current rent each month. In comparison, the 45-55s would spend just half of this (£62). 18-34s in Birmingham on average also invest £120 each year on buying plants.

Rental properties are more likely to give younger people the chance to develop a garden. Getting a foot on the property ladder, whilst highly advantageous for the long term, means that 18-34s will often be forced to downsize to a property where there is no access to any form of outside space in the short term.

Jo Weston from Miracle-Gro, comments: “In other parts of Europe where rental for life is the norm, gardens in smaller spaces are more widespread. It’s interesting to see with the rising trend of Generation Rent in the UK, a desire to create green space is becoming more popular, even more so than those who own a property. Research tells us that access to a garden or outside space has real benefits to mental health, and just because you rent doesn’t mean you should miss out on this. Mobile gardens can be created easily and on a budget.”

Two more stars are set to be inducted into Wolverhampton’s Sporting Hall of Fame during a celebratory event later this month.

Trevor Gadd and Professor Peter Radford have represented Wolverhampton in cycling and athletics respectively and appeared for their country at both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

They will be the latest big names to be included in Wolverhampton’s Sporting Hall of Fame, launched by the City of Wolverhampton Council and the Wolverhampton City Sports Advisory Council in 1999 to recognise and celebrate the achievements of sportsmen and women who have represented Wolverhampton on an international stage.

The chair of Wolverhampton’s Sports Advisory Council, Peter Holmes MBE, said: “We are delighted to be inducting two more inspirational Wulfrunians into our Sporting Hall of Fame.

“Trevor and Peter are both individuals who have performed with great success on a world stage and have been true ambassadors of everything that is good about the City of Wolverhampton.”

Trevor Gadd was a member of Wolverhampton Wheelers Cycling Club and began competitive racing in 1975 when he won his first bronze medal in the British National Championships.

Representing Great Britain and England at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, he went on to dominate track cycling in the 1970s.

Runner Peter Radford spent his early years training at Aldersley Stadium where he was coached by Wolverhampton and Bilston Athletics Club.

He went on to set numerous world records in 50m, 100m and 200m races and won medals while representing his country at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. He achieved this despite having been in a wheelchair as a child due to a serious illness.

This ceremony will take place on Saturday 23 September at WV Active Aldersley, where the Sporting Hall of Fame’s books and honours boards are displayed.

Previous inductees include athlete Denise Lewis, racing driver Richard Atwood and Wolverhampton Wanderers legends Bert Williams and Billy Wright.

Councillor Steve Evans, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for City Environment, said: “The City of Wolverhampton has a long history of producing top level sportspeople and we are delighted to celebrate their achievements through our Sporting Hall of Fame, which is proudly held at WV Active Aldersley.

“I would like to congratulate Trevor and Peter on their successes, and welcome them into Wolverhampton’s Sporting Hall of Fame.”

If you’re unlucky in love, you’re not alone. According to new research from Badoo, the world’s largest dating app, Brits suffer 2 million bad first dates per year, equating to 14,728 years frittered away because of love disasters.

When it comes to the why, the study reveals that that poor conversational skills, manners, a lack of humour and not resembling your profile picture are some of the biggest dating turn-offs.

Polite Brits are prepared to endure an average of 1 hour 32 minutes on a disappointing first date. While a staggering one in twelve are courteous enough to give up at least 3 hours of their time on an encounter that’s destined to go nowhere.

When it comes to first date turns offs, women are more likely to be put off by a lack of humour in men, with nearly a third (32 per cent) citing it as the reason for a bad date compared to 19 per cent of men.

More than double the amount of men however, place more emphasis on how their date speaks, with 11 per cent citing this as the reason for a bad first date in contrast to only 6 per cent of women.

Going on a date weighs heavy on our mind, with nearly a third of Brits (31 per cent) pulling the plug on a first date because of doubts. For millennials especially, the study reveals a ‘catfishing crisis’, with over half of 16 – 34 years (51 per cent) admitting they suffered first date jitters in fear of discovering fake online profiles.

Daters in Edinburgh are the most hesitant with 72 per cent suffering first date doubts. Singletons in Sheffield are the least doubtful when it comes to dating, with less than half (46 per cent) uncertain about whether to meet up.