Half a million pounds, paid for in-house: inside the reopened Horizon gym on Waterberry Drive

The hook: a £500,000 refit, funded from the trust's own pocket

The gym at Horizon Leisure Centre in Waterlooville has reopened after a £500,000 refurbishment — and, unusually for a project of that size, the money came from the operator itself rather than an outside backer.

The upgrade was funded exclusively by the charitable leisure trust that runs the Waterberry Drive centre, according to a report published by The News on 28 August 2026. The reopening was marked with an event that brought in customers, staff, invited guests and local sporting figures.

Former Team GB Olympic swimmer Katy Sexton MBE cut the ribbon. Beyond the formal proceedings, Horizon staff went head-to-head in a gym challenge on the new floor, and interactive taster classes ran through the day so members could try the upgraded space.

What has actually changed

This was a rebuild of the gym floor rather than a refresh of it. New cardio equipment has gone in on the mid floor. The ground floor has had a full strength upgrade. The free weights area has been reworked with new racks and a new layout.

The top floor carries the headline addition: a new 10-metre sprint track, alongside self-powered cardio and functional equipment and a dedicated glute training zone.

The equipment comes from Horizon Leisure's wellness partner, Pulse Fitness. It includes low-impact elevation treadmills, curved slat treadmills, stepmills and air bikes, pin-selected strength machines, plate-loaded weight machines such as hack squats and hip thrusts, Olympic benches and multiple half racks. A functional rig, prowler sleds and plyo boxes complete the fit-out.

Horizon Leisure chief executive Mike Lyons described the upgrade as "really comprehensive", pointing to refreshed atmospheric lighting, fresh décor and modern flooring as well as the kit. "As a charity, our goal is to inspire healthier, happier lives, and that starts with creating spaces people love to be in," he said.

How the closure was handled

The work was phased to keep the rest of the building trading. The News reported in July that the gym floor would close on Thursday 6 August and reopen at 6am on Friday 28 August.

Swimming, classes and the remainder of the centre carried on as normal throughout the closure, and members were invited to train at Horizon's Havant site in the meantime. The redesign covered flooring, lighting, sound and the overall look and feel of the space, not just the machines.

Why it matters locally

Horizon is not a national chain with a Waterlooville outlet. It is a charitable leisure trust operating centres in Waterlooville and Havant, and it met the cost of this project itself.

That distinction shapes where the money lands. Half a million pounds of capital investment has gone into a single facility on Waterberry Drive, decided on and paid for by an organisation whose stated goal, in its chief executive's words, is to inspire healthier, happier lives.

The guest list at the reopening reflected that public-facing role. Alongside Horizon's own trustees and management, Havant Borough Council was represented by its strategic lead for active wellbeing, its executive lead and a serving councillor — the local authority whose residents in Waterlooville, Cowplain, Purbrook and the surrounding area are the centre's core catchment.

For those residents, the practical upshot is straightforward: a substantially re-equipped gym floor across three levels, on the doorstep.

What is notable about the funding

The equipment list and the ribbon-cutting are the visible part. The detail worth holding on to is the funding route — a locally governed charitable trust choosing to reinvest at this scale in one of its two sites, and scheduling the works so that swimming, classes and the rest of the centre kept running while the gym floor was out of action.

The full report on the reopening, including comment from Horizon Leisure's chief executive, is published by The News at portsmouth.co.uk.