Teenage schoolboy launches petition to stop Falkirk Council closing busy gym

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A schoolboy has launched a petition to save a popular gym from closure by Falkirk Council, saying the decision "doesn't make sense".

Joel Blackwood, a fourth year pupil at Larbert High School, says he couldn't believe it when he heard that the popular gym in Stenhousemuir is one of 133 council properties under threat.Last year, the gym had more than 85,000 admissions, substantially higher than the other council-owned gyms in the district.

Joel, 15, said: "I know just from being there, there are so many people that use it - especially after school, it's always packed."But I was there the other day at 8 am and even then it was packed.

I just thought people clearly use this - there's got to be something I can do about it."Joel started a petition on Change.org, sharing it around friends at school and family at first and it "sort of just took off from there", gathering more than 1000 signatures in less than a week."It would be a big loss for me and for many members of the community," he said. "I started going to the gym just before summer and met a lot of nice people there - it's a nice environment, it's very positive.