The Rhyl Pavilion, 1891 Restaurant and Ruthin Craft Centre are just a few of the attractions being lit up in Red, White and Blue in support of Armed Forces Day.

The Skytower, Rhyl Pavilion Theatre, 1891 Restaurant and Bar, Ruthin Craft Centre and Rhyl promenade shelters will all be lit up on Saturday, 29^th June in support of those who make up our Armed Forces community and their families.

Armed Forces Day recognises all branches of the forces, including veterans, reservists and cadets, for their dedication and hard work across the globe.   

Jamie Groves, Managing Director of DLL said “DLL are proud to celebrate Armed Forces Day by lighting up the promenade in Rhyl.  We would like to offer our sincere thanks to all UK armed forces personnel, working around the world, often putting their lives at risk on behalf of us all. In lighting up Denbighshire Leisure’s attractions, we would encourage everyone in Denbighshire to join us in paying tribute to current and veteran members of the Armed Forces community. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude, and are pleased to be able to support them on this important occasion.”

Denbighshire Leisure Ltd (DLL) is seeking a local professional or emerging artist to design and create 12 awards for the upcoming Active Communities’ awards.

The awards, designed by a local artist, will be presented to category winners at the prestigious ceremony in November on stage at Rhyl Pavilion Theatre.

Local artists living or working in Denbighshire, or those originally from Denbighshire currently residing elsewhere, are being encouraged to submit their design proposals by Monday, 15th July.

The selected artist will receive a comprehensive fee of £3,000, inclusive of VAT, covering design, materials, production, packaging, and transportation costs. The award can be in any form—such as a framed print, trophy, plate, or plaque—and crafted from any medium, including ink, glass, ceramic, metal, slate, etc.

The DLL Active Communities’ awards ceremony, celebrating the sporting and cultural achievements of Denbighshire, will be held on 13th November 2023 at Rhyl Pavilion Theatre with over 400 guests, including residents, partners, local businesses, nominees, and their families, are expected to attend.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director of Denbighshire Leisure Ltd, stated, “We are thrilled to host the DLL Active Communities’ Awards to recognise and celebrate Denbighshire’s arts and culture alongside its sporting excellence. The awards designed last year, by Llangollen based glass artist Heulwen Wright were beautiful and we are looking forward to receive the design submissions for this year’s awards.”

Interested artists can visit https://denbighshireleisure.co.uk/ac-awards-2024/  for criteria and submission details.

Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL) is thrilled to announce the opening of nominations for the prestigious Active Communities’ Awards 2024, set to recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions to community life across Denbighshire.

Nominations open on Saturday, 1st June 2024, and must be completed and submitted online before Monday 15^th July. To nominate, please visit: https://denbighshireleisure.co.uk/ac-awards-2024/

The awards feature a diverse range of categories aimed at highlighting the extraordinary efforts of individuals and groups within the Denbighshire community.

The categories for nominations include Volunteer of the Year, Primary School of the Year, Secondary School of the Year, Sport Coach of the Year, Sport Club of the Year, Team of the Year, Best Arts for Wellbeing Project, Best Community Creative Project, Young Inspiration, Excellence Award – Young Person, Excellence Award – Adult and the esteemed Lifetime Achievement award.

The winners of these prestigious awards will be honoured at a ceremony hosted at the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre on Wednesday evening, 13th November 2024.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director at DLL said: “The DLL Active Communities Awards is a very important date on the events calendar for us as it gives us the opportunity to celebrate the remarkable efforts of individuals and groups who make a significant difference in our community. We are also very lucky to have Jason Mohammad, the esteemed broadcaster, as our guest speaker and master of ceremonies for the evening.”

2023 winners can be found here: https://denbighshireleisure.co.uk/ac-awards-2024/

In addition to celebrating the achievements of our nominees, DLL is excited to commission a local professional or emerging artist to create awards which will be presented to the category winners in November’s awards. This initiative aims to showcase the incredible artistic talent within our community and provide a personal and meaningful token of recognition for our award recipients.

For more information on how to submit nominations and details on contributing to the artistic awards, please visit our website at https://denbighshireleisure.co.uk/ac-awards-2024/  or contact us at activecommunities@denbighshireleisure.co.uk

Afternoon tea, Military bands and royal appearances were just some of the delights at a prestigious garden party hosted on behalf of King Charles at Buckingham Palace this week.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director of DLL, received an invitation to the garden party from the Lord Chamberlain on behalf of His Majesty, following his work with DLL and his dedication to the leisure industry over the last 15 years. Jamie was nominated for this honour by friends, Mike and Jules Peters.

Invitees were greeted by two Royal Military bands in Buckingham Palace grounds, followed by afternoon tea in the gardens.

Prince William was in attendance and joked with attendees that it was ‘good weather for swimming’.  The future King was also joined by his cousins, princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Zara Tindall, with her husband Mike.

Speaking of the event, Jamie Groves said: “It was a honour to be nominated by Jules and Mike, and to attend such a prestigious event was a truly unbelievable experience. It was surreal to walk through the palace grounds in the presence of members of the royal family and it truly was a day we will never forget.  I’m so proud to represent the company at this event and incredibly humbled to be nominated, it is very special that the work myself and my team do at DLL has been recognised in this way.”

DLL are excited to announce that Jason Mohammed, star of BBC Ones’s Final Score, will be presenting the 2024 DLL Active Communities’ Awards.

These prestigious awards honour members of the community who have made a difference or achieved something special in sport, activity or arts and culture within the last year.

The awards, previously the Denbighshire Sports Awards, have now grown to honour local individuals, groups, teams, schools and clubs that have made a difference or achieved something in sport or activity, arts and culture in their community.

Over 450 guests, including residents, partners and local businesses, attended this major event at the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre in November 2023, alongside all nominees and their families, organised by Denbighshire Leisure Ltd (DLL). With 12 awards received on the evening, including Sports Club of the Year, Excellence Young person and Best Community Creative project.

The 2024 ceremony will take place on the 13th November and will be held once again at Rhyl Pavilion Theatre with an after party at 1891 Rhyl bar and restaurant.

Nominations for the awards will open on the 1st June, with DLL encouraging all members of the public to get involved and nominate someone in their community via the website.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director of DLL, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Jason Mohammad to Rhyl this November. The DLL Active Communities’ awards is a fantastic event that helps recognise and celebrate the success of individuals, teams, clubs and schools within Denbighshire. We’re thrilled to be back at Rhyl Pavilion theatre, and 1891 restaurant and bar. We are looking forward to receiving all the nominations, of which I’m sure will give the judges a hard job to choose from!”

Judging for the awards takes place in August and the winners will be announced live on stage in November.

For more information please visit https://denbighshireleisure.co.uk/ac-awards-2024/

Denbighshire Leisure Ltd (DLL)’s ‘proud to be Welsh’ competition received hundreds of entries from children sharing their love of the Welsh culture by designing a poster that would be printed onto DLL fitness instructor t-shirts.

DLL invited young artists to participate in a t-shirt design contest themed around ‘What Makes You Proud to Be Welsh’, aimed at children aged 11 and under.

Over 150 entries were received and due to the high quality of the entries, three winners were picked to receive Ninja TAG tickets at SC2 Rhyl.

Daisy from Ysgol Dewi Sant drew the winning design and her poster was printed and worn by DLL fitness instructor t-shirts across all of their fitness sites. Emma from Ysgol Caer Drewyn and Darcie from Ysgol Bryn Clwyd were also picked as winners and will receive two Ninja TAG tickets each.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director at DLL said:  “As a Welsh business it’s important to us to celebrate our Welsh culture and this year it’s been a delight to see all the amazing entries for this competition. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who competed in our poster design competition of ‘What makes you proud to be Welsh’. The response has been amazing and we’ve had over 150 entries from across all of Denbighshire. It was so hard to choose just one winner, so we have awarded a 2nd prize and a 3rd prize who have also won 2 Ninja TAG tickets each, we have contacted these individuals and schools directly. Once again, I want to say a huge congratulations to everyone for competing and for drawing such high quality posters. #weareDLL, #weareproudtobewelsh”

DLL’s Community Arts team has designed a range of arts projects to promote and celebrate Global Intergenerational Week (GIW) from 24^th to 30^th April.

2024 is the fourth year of GIW, the annual worldwide campaign which encourages people of all ages to embrace intergenerational practices and relationships.  The campaign looks to bring people together to form important and lasting connections and friendships, and to enjoy projects with benefits such as improvements in wellbeing, whilst also being educational and fun.

The programme designed by the Community Arts Service will include pupils from Ysgol Borthyn, Ruthin joining the regular Lost in Art Group between 1-3pm at Ruthin Craft Centre to enjoy an afternoon of making.  Lost in Art is a project aimed at people living with dementia, along with their family members and carers, and aims to use visual arts to address issues such as social isolation.    

Paned a Chân, the weekly Welsh Language singing for wellbeing community group at Llanrhaeadr village has been invited to join pupils from Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch primary school on Tuesday, 30th April (10.30am-11.30am) for a fun intergenerational singing session to celebrate GIW in partnership with Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias Music Centre. 

In addition to GIW, the team continues to work on a range of ongoing projects, such as supporting DCC Housing in engaging with their citizens around the county via creative interventions; supporting South Denbighshire Community Partnership to run creative art groups at Canolfan Ni in Corwen and Canolfan Pengwern in Llangollen and working with housing associations to support creative activity in extra care facilities such as Gorwel Newydd (Clwyd Alyn), Awel y Dyffryn and LLys Awelon (Grwp Cynefin).  The team also run Story Pals an intergenerational creative friendship project between different primary schools and care homes and community hospitals in Denbighshire and regularly work in partnership with third sector organisations such as Kim Inspire and Vale of Clwyd Mind to organise all sorts of different creative workshops for people living with mental health challenges in Prestatyn, Rhyl, Corwen and Llangollen.

DLL will also be lighting up buildings in Rhyl in pink in support of GIW.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director of DLL said “DLL are delighted to support Global Intergenerational Week through these inventive and inspiring arts initiatives.  As always our Community Arts Team have worked exceptionally hard to bring together a range of motivational, educational and enjoyable projects for people of all ages across Denbighshire to enjoy.  It’s important to remember that the work of the DLL Community Arts Service is not just limited to GIW, however, and they are busy delivering many similar initiatives on a regular basis, which see positive benefits for many residents across the county.”

If you are interested in getting involved in any of the above projects, please contact Sian Fitzgerald on Sian.Fitzgerald@denbighshireleisure.co.uk.

DLL attractions across Denbighshire were lit up in blue to shine a light on Prostate Cancer last month, with a range of fundraising activities across their leisure sites and fitness clubs raising over £1000 for charity.

The team raised money through special fitness classes, a social media campaign, Coffee and Cake dates at our fitness clubs Refuel cafes, wearing blue across the company and by lighting up the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre, 1891 restaurant and bar, The Sky Tower, SC2 Rhyl and Ruthin Craft Centre between 5th and 11th of March.

In Wales, 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives and the DLL team were on a mission to spread awareness throughout last month and a total of £1030 was raised. Jamie Groves, Managing Director of DLL, said: “I’m really proud of everything the DLL team did last month to raise awareness of Prostate Cancer, it’s an incredibly important topic that needs to be talked about more often. We’re proud to have raised over £1000 going to Prostate Cancer UK. Thank you to all of our fitness members who got involved with our themed classes, coffee mornings, challenges across our sites and also anyone who bought a cake and coffee where 10% of the cost was donated to this cause. All of this activity opened up the door for some amazing and truly inspiring conversations across our sites which helped raise awareness as well as the fundraising for this cause. ”More information on the campaign can be found on the DLL social media channels Facebook and the DLL website

Adventure is coming to Prestatyn this Autumn with the opening of a ‘first in Wales’ digital fitness experience, climbing wall and interactive squash court.

Denbighshire Leisure Ltd (DLL) are once again bucking the national trend and investing in a new adventure hub and junior fitness facilities.

Following the success of Nova, as DLL’s premium Leisure destination, Prestatyn leisure will take training to a new level with a brand new Prama interactive fitness studio, revolutionising the junior fitness programme and delivering an innovative circularium for students.

First of its kind in Wales, Prama is an immersive and interactive group exercise concept where sound, lights, floors and walls come to life to motivate and guide you through a unique training experience.

The new technology on site will also see an immersive Squash experience, bringing the sport into a new era and making it accessible for all.

A Clip and Climb climbing experience will also be added to Prestatyn Leisure, adding a new attraction to DLL’s already extensive portfolio of family friendly adventures.

Jamie Groves, Managing Director of DLL, said: “We are investing in the next generation with top digital technology to innovate junior fitness. The new Prama studio will take PE and fitness training to the next level, creating a digital fitness experience packed with interaction and engagement for all ages. This new investment will bring Prestatyn Leisure into a new era, showing our commitment to investing in the community and the wellbeing of our members and customers. Following in the success of Nova as an attraction, including Club Nova, Beach Hut and our adventure play, we’re proud to now bring adventure to Prestatyn Leisure. We are pledging our support to the community and education by providing this new interactive hub for young people in the area.”

Neil Foley, Headteacher at Prestatyn High School, said: “We’re thrilled to be part of DLL’s next investment, this project will truly revolutionise the PE programme, modernise the curriculum and take fitness training to a new level. We’re proud to be working in partnership with DLL to be the first and only High school in North Wales with a Prama studio, and cannot wait for the work to start this imminently. This along with the new climbing walls and interactive squash will add a complexly new and exciting dimension to Prestatyn High for current and future pupils.”

In addition to the new technology and exciting new adventure plans, Prestatyn Leisure will also have a DLL Refuel station installed with Costa Coffee and a relaxing member area.

On 29th March, DLL will be celebrating 50 years of Canolfan Hamdden Huw Jones, their leisure site in Corwen.

Originally built as a swimming pool, the facility opened on 29th March 1974, following a campaign by then Councillor William Roberts.  Councillor Roberts was adamant that the town needed somewhere for local children to learn to swim, after two tragic drowning incidents occurred in the nearby River Dee. 

The leisure centre, managed for many years by Cllr Roberts’ son Adrian, was extended by Denbighshire County Council’s Leisure Services (Now DLL) to include squash courts, a fitness suite and an outdoor 3G pitch. 

In 2020, the facility became part of Denbighshire Leisure Ltd (DLL), who have continued to invest in this popular local facility, refurbishing the facility throughout, including pool hall, circulation areas, a new functional training area with sector leading equipment from the Technogym Skill Range; as well as the addition of a new studio area for group exercise classes.

In 2021, Corwen Leisure Centre was renamed Canolfan Hamdden Huw Jones, in tribute to another popular and well respected local and County Councillor, who sadly passed away in 2020.  Huw Jones was dedicated to the Corwen community and as Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Leisure played a very important role in improving and developing leisure across the county.

Canolfan Hamdden Huw Jones now boasts a 20m swimming pool, a fitness suite which includes a range of Technogym’s Excite Cardio equipment, and Tanita total body analyser, first floor functional training space, glass fronted squash court, functional studio, and outdoor pitch with 3G surface.

DLL Managing Director, Jamie Groves said “We are exceptionally proud of Canolfan Hamdden Huw Jones and the service it offers today.  Looking back across 50 years, the facility has seen many developments and improvements, and now offers a first class leisure provision to residents and visitors to Corwen.  The site has a reputation for offering a friendly, professional service and this is reflected in the many fantastic testimonials we receive from our members.”   

Councillor Alan Hughes said “Denbighshire County Council are delighted to see Canolfan Hamdden Huw Jones reach such a fabulous milestone, and the site continues to be a hugely important asset to the town of Corwen and surrounding neighbourhoods.  Although they now deliver a wide variety of leisure activities, the team on site still work incredibly hard to deliver a very comprehensive swimming lesson programme, and I am sure Cllr William Roberts would be very proud of their success.”