FORMER Brighton and Tottenham footballer Guy Butters is visiting a Sussex charity on Thursday to officially open its gym extension.

Tuesday, 19 March 2024 14:53

Albion in the Community have supported Chailey Heritage Foundation over the years and this specially designed accessible gym will make even more sessions available to the wider disability community from right across Sussex.

The gym at Chailey Heritage Foundation - in Mid Sussex - is an Inclusive Fitness accredited facility (IFI). It is hugely popular with young people supported by the charity and also members of the local community with a disability.

It is specially designed for people who have difficulty accessing a traditional facility due to mobility, injury, learning or physical disability.

An exciting extension to the gym is now complete. The new gym features some incredible new equipment such as a fitness sensory wall, a new bike that you can play games on while you work out, an easy stand glider, rehabilitation steps, a punchbag and a ski erg machine.

Dan Burnett, Fitness Centre Manager at Chailey Heritage Foundation, said: "We are very proud of what we have created, it will make such a difference to the lives of the young people at Chailey Heritage and customers from the community with a physical disability.

"It can be hard for some people to actually walk into a gym for the first time. Ours is designed especially to break down those barriers."

Guy - who made 187 appearances for Brighton and Hove Albion between 2002 and 2008 - works as a Liaison Officer for Albion in the Community, which is now called Brighton and Hove Albion Foundation.

He will be joined at Thursday's opening by Phil Broom, Disability Football Lead for the Foundation.