Bridport Leisure Centre Member

Norman Heath

Norman Heath (94) is a familiar face at Bridport Leisure Centre where he attends weekly Aquafit Classes taken by his daughter Rachel.

He said: “I have been coming to the Leisure Centre since time in memorial, around 30 years. I was a cyclist before along with my wife Margery. We cycled locally for leisure. Sherbourne, Somerset all over. I’d drive the car to a certain point, and we’d cycle from there. We went to the New Forest many a time.”

Norman and Margery joined the Leisure Centre when he retired. He explains: “We were busy with family before that. We heard about the aquafit classes and thought they sounded good, so we tried them and enjoyed them. We weren’t members at first but soon joined up. We went to the gym for a while but always went to the Aquafit classes. This was long before Rachel worked at the Leisure Centre she was in the RAF back then.”

Sadly, Margery passed away 6 years ago, and only last year Norman suffered a stroke, but he feels it’s vital that he continues with his visits to the Leisure Centre. He said: “The exercise and the social activity helped me get over it. I made myself come, you have to help yourself, you can’t lay back, that’s no good, you have to do something. It is up to people individually, but they need to be encouraged too. The exercise helped with my confidence following the stroke. I had to be supervised at first, for the first few classes, but they definitely helped with my recovery.

Norman who lives in Maiden Newton near Dorchester explains: “I need to get a lift in these days, but I still come to classes twice a week, three times if I can. Exercise is so important as are these classes, they loosen up the joints and also socially, everyone benefits from the social contact!”

Bridport Leisure Centre receptionist and AquaFit instructor Rachel Heath takes a break from her class and is seen here with her dad, Norman Heath.