Download our March Venue Circular as a PDF or read all news articles below (NEW Mobile friendly option) - forthcoming news and events occurring at Venue 360.
Our top stories
Over £23k raised for charity!
When our Head of Leisure & Operations; Jason Goodall heard of his friend; Dave Bateson fundraising exploits through a football match at Ampthill Town FC v Luton Town, he asked him if he wanted to continue his fundraising by holding an event here at Venue 360.
Dave had stage 4 melanoma cancer and without the support and wonder of new medication from Addenbrookes hospital, he might not now still be with us and able to announce on the night that he is now amazingly clear of cancer! Dave therefore took to fundraising for ACT at Addenbrookes hospital, as his way of giving something back. His football match, including separate donations, amounted to an amazing £24k and the night here on Saturday 2nd March raised an additional £23k, amounting to nearly £50k raised in the last 12 months!
The evening here in the Riverside Suite couldn’t have gone much better, 380 tickets sold out weeks in advance with an amazing atmosphere generated throughout the night with friends and family, essentially enjoying one big party. There was live music from covers band Flywheel, an auction hosted by TalkSport’s Paul Coyte and great music for the rest of the night from DJ Dean Blackett. There were even appearances from Ex-Luton Town FC Legends; Mick Harford and Mitchell Thomas, showing their support towards the charity.
Those attending were extremely generous in donating to the raffle and auction on the night, with the top auction pieces of a signed Lionel Messi shirt selling for an amazing £2500 and signed LTFC shirt raising £1500.
Many thanks for the unbelievable amount of prizes donated by local businesses and well done to Dave and his team for organising such a great event and for raising so much money.
Earlier weekend opening hours and menu changes
Coming soon, the Balcony Café Bar will be open from 9am on Saturdays and Sundays with a variety of Breakfast options. Keeping our bacon rolls, we will also be adding warmed croissants with either butter and jam, or ham and cheese as well as porridge pots to our weekend breakfast menu.
In addition to these changes and in response to our members’ suggestions after last months newsletter, we will be changing our lunch menu to offer BLT baguettes. Also look out for our baguette of the week, offering a different filling each week. The evenings will see our menu include nachos as well as a new pizza topping of BBQ chicken.
Pastry with your morning coffee? Keep an eye open for our 50p Pastries, with a choice between a maple pecan plait, raspberry crown, vanilla flavour crown, cinnamon swirl & apple coronet, we are sure you’ll enjoy a mini sweet treat with your hot drink.
We look forward to seeing how this trial goes and to welcoming you all to try our new menu items.
Finally, look out for April’s Newsletter, it will see some more exciting news and a chance to celebrate our hardworking team members.
Enjoy the last of the winter…Spring is on its way!!
Lifelines member Louis Sky Dives for Charity!
You will probably recognise Louis as he regularly works out here at Lifelines and will be attempting a tandem sky dive later on in March to celebrate his 50th birthday and raise money for Cancer Research UK. The initial jump was due to take place in January but due to bad weather it got rearranged and it will be his first attempt.
How You Can Help: Your contribution, no matter how big or small, will make a significant impact. Every pound brings us closer to a world where cancer is no longer a threat. Please consider donating to this worthy cause on my behalf.
Donate Today: To donate, simply click on the link below and follow the instructions:
Successful charity football tournament
Venue 360 recently played host to a successful charity football tournament named “Goals 4 Gaza” to raise much-needed funds for humanitarian relief in Gaza. The 5-a-side tournament was highly successful, with 10 teams participating, including some teams travelling from London. The atmosphere was electric, with fathers playing alongside their sons and friends coming together to support this noble cause.
The final match took place between Team Legends and Luton Bengal. Team Legends, captained by Khashim, emerged victorious and lifted the trophy. It was an incredible event, where players of all ages showcased their football skills and raised over £2,180.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the staff at Venue 360, the referees (Mabs, Adil, Shumon), Radwan, Talha, Shuel and organisers Tarim & Shofi for their dedication and commitment to making this tournament a grand success.
In other news...
Coffee drinkers turn beans into trees!!
Our coffee supplier Wooden Hill roasters have provided us with 500kgs of coffee in just over half a year which has enabled them to plant 5 trees at the Marston Vale forest centre on our behalf.
So keep drinking to improve our environment and hopefully we can achieve 10 trees this year!
New Monday Evening Pilates Class
We are delighted to announce that we will be starting a new Pilates class on Mondays from 6pm till 6.50pm. Our new Instructor, Henna comes with a wealth of experience and the class will be starting on Monday the 11th of March so please book on early if you’re planning to participate.
Henna’s classes are perfect for:
Beginners and seasoned practitioners alike
Those seeking to build core strength and flexibility
Anyone wanting to improve posture and body awareness
Relieve stress and find inner calm
Training and Recovery
Have you ever thought to yourself when was the last time I had a week off my training? Sometimes we get so focused with training 5 days a week or more for months and months on end whether it be cardiovascular training or resistance or both. It really is worth taking a week off every 6 weeks especially if you are weight training to a high intensity all the time. There is a myth that you lose strength once you stop over a short period however this is certainly untrue and the body can maintain muscle mass for more than 4 weeks. The rest actually is really good for reset and gives joints, muscles and the whole body a well needed break. Again, with weight training in an ideal world you should be having rest days in-between weight training for maximum effect to gain strength and muscle size.
March Challenge!
100 Rep Squat Challenge!
This challenge requires you to body weight squat 100 reps in one go! You can have a rest of 10 seconds at the half way point. All efforts must be witnessed by a Lifelines Instructor, so good luck.
Exercise of the month cable squats
Why not try this smooth exercise which involves using the cable machine to execute the squat or even better ask an instructor to demonstrate it for you!
Feet Hip Width apart
Lower Side runners to position 1 (bottom)
Add weight and position handle grips to shoulders while standing upright
Perform the squat lowering down then pushing through heels back up
Plank and Press Challenge Winners
Well done to Jordan and Tamara who took part in the Plank challenge and were pulled out of the lucky dip, Jordan managed 27 reps while Tarmara had 15 reps.
Grappler receives new streamline rope
In what seems a bit like Trigger's broom from Only Fools and Horses, we have recently replaced the grappler machine rope.
It may look a basic piece of kit but the grappler is hugely effective for strength, stamina, injury and recovery. It is a hugely popular station in the gym and you will be pleased to know that we have recently invested in a new rope that has a much better grip than the old traditional rope and also has a plastic cover for a more user-friendly experience. If you have not used this machine before, why not ask a member of staff to show you how to get the most out of it?
Easter sports camps
Our resident coaches Ryan (Football, Pro & Goalkeeping Camp) and Danny (Tennis Camp) are running courses here at Venue 360 throughout the Easter holiday.
To book Football Pro & Goalkeeping: Message J&R Coaching on 07852239866 or visit jandrcoaching.classforkids.io/
To book Tennis: Message Danny on 07947733703 or email d.pymont@venue360.net
Gold Adult Tennis - 13 months for the price of 12
Get your first month free when you sign up for a Gold annual tennis membership. Venue 360 Tennis Club is on the lookout for more members to join them at club sessions and to play in their teams against other local clubs. If you have played tennis before and want to get back into playing or if you’ve progressed through our adult improvers courses then this would be perfect for you.
Club sessions are Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. There is also a free coach lead session on the first Monday of each month, that you can also attend. In addition to this, gold tennis members also get free off-peak outdoors when playing with other members and a 35% discount on our non-member indoor court price.
Visit venue360.co.uk/adult-tennis for more information.
Membership must be bought at our main reception to gain offer. If you join online, please make sure you inform reception so they can extend your membership by one month. Offer ends 31st March 2024.
Welcome Louis to reception!
Louis has been training and covering on reception now for 2-3 months, so whilst some of you may recognise him already, we thought we would officially introduce him as part of our amazing reception team.
Louis is possibly the youngest receptionist we have ever had but he has picked things up very quickly and we have been impressed with his maturity in communicating and dealing with customer bookings and enquiries.
Louis has always been football mad and is currently studying Leisure and Business at Oaklands College, in addition to now training and playing football for their academy, since recovering from a serious knee operation and nine months out from playing.
Louis also coaches for us on our Saturday morning kids football sessions and can be seen regularly working out in Lifelines gym, making the most of his staff benefits!
Saturday morning football
New 6 week course - 30th March - 4th May
6 week course prices members £30 / non-members £36, PAYG prices members £5 / non-members £6
*Book all 6 weeks to guarantee your place each week
Please visit venue360.co.uk/news for full details.