VILLAGERS are celebrating the opening of new £20,000 outdoor gym and zipwire.

The open-air gym, in Parkeston Welfare Park, Garland Road, includes a range of equipment aimed at getting people outdoors and exercising.

The park’s managing committee is delighted with the response of local visitors since the new facility opened.

The committee has worked hard over the past eight months to secure the necessary funding.

Bill Davidson, committee chairman, said: “It is an idea I had after I went to a council meeting and realised there was funding for this sort of thing available.

“I got in touch with Anglian Community Enterprise and put in a bid for funding.

“The new facilities cost £11,500 which was entirely funded by ACE.

“The idea came from realising quite early on there is a desperate need for people to get fit, something to encourage people not to sit around doing nothing.

“Most impor tantly for older people, who don’t go to a gym because perhaps they are embarrassed or intimidated by the younger people doing 1,000 press-ups.

“I thought this would be a good idea for adults as well as for children.

“I have found it has been used in its early days by quite a range of people.

“Quite a few people are coming along with their kids, letting them play on the swings and using the time to do a work-out.”

He added: “What is absolutely wonderful about this is you see people from the village that never seem to get out of the house much, coming out and having a go with it. I am now trying to encourage some smaller clubs to come along.

“We would love to see it used by a real mixture of people.”

The fixtures also include a newly installed zipwire for youngsters, costing £8,500.

It has been partly funded by developers through planning agreements with Tendring Council and a £1,000 grant from the Community Initiatives Fund.