Click below to watch the film and learn more about this story
The health and wellbeing of our nation is something we care deeply about, and places such as leisure centres are playing a vital part in restoring health, wellbeing and opportunity in their communities.
The Marina Centre in Great Yarmouth is a wet and dry centre, offering an incredible array of facilities - something we wanted to showcase in a series of films.
The tip of the iceberg being a story that follows Ellis, an athlete set on achieving her best, an ambition achievable thanks to the incredible facilities at the centre…
Click to watch the video
When we embarked upon a journey to tell the Marina Centre's story, we always knew it would be a challenge.
This facility provides so much, both in terms of its wide range of accessible facilities, and its impact on the wider economy too.
It could have been very easy to shoot every single activity in the centre, and have a more generalised story, but our aim for this first film was to be brave and tell one story, which focused on how this place can help people achieve their best.
During script development, we questioned the meaning of best in sport - what does best actually mean?
We think it's really about what best means to you - with the only person you need to beat, being the person you were yesterday!
This ‘achieve your best’ concept, helped us tell the story through Ellis' eyes, showcasing as much of the facilities in the Marina Centre, without it losing sight of the story.
Take a look at this behind the scenes film to see how Lambda Films carefully crafted each scene for the film:
Video | Behind the scenes
Our hope is this film inspires others to come to the Marina Centre, whilst showcasing the positive impact leisure facilities have on lives.
So, whilst we kept our main story razor focused, we still wanted to explore the wider impact the centre has had on Great Yarmouth's regeneration.
The Marina Centre is a key piece of the regeneration development and has already seen over 150,000 visitors, whilst boosting footfall on the seafront by 20% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
In our other two films, Chief Executive for the Council, Sheila Oxtoby, shares her thoughts on the impact the centre has made, and how this fits perfectly into the future of Great Yarmouth.
Click on the video thumbnails to watch…
We wanted it to be a really stunning building that people would look at and go; wow, I want to go in there. It does have that wow factor. People see the flumes and think, ooh, that looks fun. And that’s what it’s all about – we want people to come here and have fun, offering a day where you can forget about all the troubles of the world and just come and have a little bit of fun. We’re now seeing a 20% increase on footfall compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, so that’s exactly what we’d hoped to see. We’re delighted because it's already fulfilling that ambition of our all year round destination.
Video | year round destination
Video | customer experience
The Marina Centre has played a big role in the Great Yarmouth regeneration plans and delivered £23.5 million of social value locally.
In the context of our first film, we wanted to make sure that we cast local - people who could and would use the centre.
So we decided to cast two friends, with a main focus on one; who would be trying to achieve her best in the pool - through study in the café, to spinning, boxing and running.
Step forward Ellis and Ella from Norfolk - two keen actors who are also both passionate about leisure facilities.
The Marina Centre is fantastic. I will definitely be going back to use the pool and I also want to check out the climbing walls. I think my favourite part was the gym, because the view out onto the beach is just spectacular!
I was surprised at how nice it is. The spin studio is great and I really liked the huge window in the café and how it looks straight out on to the sea!
After the filming we caught up with Ellis and Ella to get their thoughts on the centre and how this can help local people…
Ellis: The Marina Centre is fantastic! I will definitely be going back to use the pool again, and I also want to check out the climbing walls and water slides! I think my favourite part though was the gym, because the view onto the beach is just spectacular - I would definitely be more motivated to run if that was the view every day!
Ella: I was surprised at how nice it is! The facilities are very nice and clean. I really liked the huge window in the café and how it looks straight out to the sea. The spin studio was all very nice.
Ellis: It opens up opportunities to train in new ways, which can never be a bad thing! Hopefully some people will find their passion for a new sport while visiting the centre. I am a big believer that everyone should be given the chance to achieve their dreams and goals no matter where they come from, or their start in life. So, having training facilities for so many sports all in one place in rural Norfolk is fantastic! Not only is it a great place to train though, it's a great place for kids and adults to come and have fun while staying active - that's what is really important.
Ella: More chance to exercise! Exercise is amazing for your mental health so any chance to exercise and feel positive is great. I always tell my class members that the most important part of exercise is to enjoy it & have a good time, it’s not about the calories. It also creates a sense of community - if the same people turn up to the same classes people can make friends and socialise more which I think has sort of go down hill since the pandemic.
£23.5 million wet and dry centreDelivered on time and budget£23.5 million social value invested10/10 customer satisfactionThree pools, sports hall, gym, studiosClimbing walls and seaside caféRead the full case study
Video | Watch the Marina Centre get built in 60 seconds
The foresight and bravery to build this facility is to be applauded. This is the platform for it and we have targeted programmes to help get more people active locally. For us, this centre will be an overall experience as well as employment opportunities . I want to thank the council and Morgan Sindall for the great job."
Great Yarmouth Borough Council is the ultimate client for the Marina Centre - the Council with the bravery and foresight to commission this impactful centre.
Click here to visit GYBC
Sport England is an arms-length body of government responsible for growing and developing grass roots sport and subsequently contributed funding.
Click here to visit Sport England
Freedom Leisure is one of the UK's leading not-for-profit leisure and cultural trusts. They are the current operators of the Marina Centre facility.
Click here to visit Freedom Leisure
Devin Consulting is an aquatic engineering design consultanct with a track record of over 600 pool and spa projects. They were the filtration experts on the Marina Centre.
Click here to visit Devin Consulting
Saunders Boston Architects design and deliver inspirational buildings and environments and were responsible for the design of the Marina Centre.
Click here to visit Saunders Boston
Mace is an international consultancy working across all sectors. They were responsible for the project management and cost consultancy elements of the scheme.
Click here to visit Mace
New Anglia LEP work with local businesses, local authorities and education to drive growth and enterprise in Norfolk and Suffolk. They provided funding for the Marina Centre.
Click here to visit New Anglia LEP
Furness Partnership is a structural engineering partnership, leading expert in sports and leisure complex and were the structural engineers on the Marina Centre.
Click here to visit Furness Partnership
David Dickinson & Associates is a dynamic consultancy with 30 years of excellence. They were the mechanical and electrical consultants on the Marina Centre.
Click here to visit DDA
