Behind the Scenes: October ‘23
You would be forgiven for thinking that Autumn is all about hibernation and winding down for the year – not so at Atlantis! The Centre has been a wonderful buzz of activity these past few weeks as we make more than the most of that extra daylight saving hour. Read on to catch up with what’s been happening at your community health and leisure centre in our Autumn recap:
Autumn Activities– ‘events, events, events!’
The Hope2Oban (H2O) Lock-In returned with a bang this year in what was one of the best editions of the event to date. The Lock-In sees Oban High School’s S1 year group spend the night at Atlantis, playing all sorts of games, socialising, crafting and activities throughout the night.
This year’s edition welcomed a fantastic cohort of 145 young people to the Centre, who were a brilliant credit to the High School showing enthusiasm, good behaviour and creativity throughout the night. A special mention must be made of the excellent Atlantis and H2O staff team who were on duty for the night and did a brilliant job of keeping energy levels high with fun activities and a generally engaging, positive attitude. They were assisted by a team of volunteers from H2O, Oban High School, Oban Youth Café and other community partners. A group of S6 volunteers also helped run the event, demonstrating an excellent attitude and sense of fun throughout the night.
Over the last 16 years, the LockIn has given generations of S1 young people an unforgettable experience. For many, this represents one of their first overnight stays away from home. The event offers a brilliant bonding opportunity for what is still a new year group, having reached secondary school from the many feeder primary schools in the Oban High catchment area.
As if the Lock-In wasn’t enough for the Centre for one weekend, we also hosted the second edition of Oban Tennis and Squash Club’s Professional Squash Association (PSA) accredited tournament! Once again, the club brought competitors to Oban from across the UK and beyond – athletes were in attendance from as far afield as Canada and South Africa. The event enjoyed an excellent standard of play with three days of competition taking place across both squash courts in Atlantis’ Squash Centre.
The weekend wasn’t finished there! – we rounded off three busy days of events with our Halloween party! Creativity (and imagination) were on show as we welcomed lots of well-dressed families to the Centre on Sunday the 29th of October. We love weekends like this! – having the community fill the Centre and use it for a variety of buzzing different purposes is exactly why it’s here
The Atlantis Crew that helped at this year’s Lock-In
Atlantis in the Community – ‘making a difference beyond the Centre’
Now, whilst it’s decidedly colder out there that didn’t deter a hardy group brace the waters and take part in the annual Kerrera Swim in aid of Atlantis. Crossing Oban Bay powered by nothing more than their arms and legs, the swimmers raised £1035 for Atlantis activities. A huge thank you to all of them for their commitment and enthusiasm in what is one of the most unique and fun fundraising events in our calendar! Atlantis is a charity and fundraising is a vital part of how we stay in existence.
Staff Team – ‘taking Oban global!’
This month we wanted to make special mention of our own Robert McLaughlin who recently returned from the Rugby World Cup – where he was playing! Robert was part of Oban Lorne RFC Men’s 1st XV as they represented Scotland in the first ever Amateur Rugby World Cup. This was a fantastic achievement by OLRFC and one that continues to cement Oban’s place on the international sporting map. Atlantis assisted the team in their pre-event training with reduced memberships for training as part of our Elite Squad programme. Over the years, Atlantis has sought to support high potential athletes in the local area with the financial burden associated with the use of training facilities. Our Elite Squad programme provides discounted access to our facilities, enabling our talented local sportspeople to train and reach their full potential more easily. Members of the Elite Squad are required to be competing in their sport at a regional level. For more information and how to apply for our Elite Memberships, please visit: www.atlantisleisure.co.uk/memberships. Massive congratulations to OLRFC!
Centre Life – ‘know your building’
Our maintenance programme continued throughout this month with important improvements made to aspects of the Centre heating system. Our Reception area is in a part of the building with a very high vaulted ceiling – this makes it quite tricky to heat. After decades of faithful service, we replaced the gas heaters that help to make for a warm welcome every time you visit the Centre. The heaters were replaced with a modern equivalent in line with our Centre-wide strategy for sustainable operations.
PlaySport – ‘moving as community’
PlaySport forged new ground this season as we trialled pre-school classes during September. The classes included gymnastics, tennis, athletics and football. After the trial, gymnastics and football have continued with good attendance. Tennis and Athletics have also continued but with lower numbers running a class for these activities just isn’t viable. The trial was in response to a survey conducted earlier in the year which received fantastic uptake and response from the community. This is an important example of how, as a community-run centre, we are able to seek and respond to specific local need.