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Maleny Community Gym

“Our Aim is to provide fitness to all members in a safe and comfortable environment”  

The Gym had its beginnings with a small but motivated group of locals deciding the community needed a Gym. The original committee were Peter Campbell, Charmaine Bergann, Greg Wren, Janine Meagher, June Godkin and Jean Cunningham.  Incorporation was achieved on 28th January 1998 and Gym opened in the building now occupied by Concept Computers in the Riverside Centre.

In the early years Charmaine Bergann volunteered her time and opened the Gym Monday Wednesday and Friday for 1.5 hours each morning.  Monday Wednesday and Friday nights Peter Campbell volunteered his time and opened up 4.30pm to 7.00pm after he finished the school bus run. Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons a circuit class was run from 5.00pm to 6.00pm and then the Gym opened to the rest of the members until 7.30pm.
Peter Campbell made the machines, many of which are still used in the Gym today. He also generously waited many years until a successful grant application allowed the committee to pay him for his work. Dr. Greg Wren lent us his own free weights to get the Gym started and we were able to return them when our hard work and the efforts of many members volunteering their time allowed us to purchase our own. 

By January 1999 we were in a position to pay trainers and we started on $10 an hour and increased to 5 mornings a week. Mike Katsaris gave us a reduced rental rate during this time, which allowed us to expand and build a client base and slowly purchase new equipment. Many car washes and raffles were held during this time to help pay the bills and often we thought we would not be solvent. These premises served us well until our continued success necessitated our move to rooms underneath Autopro in August 2000. Rodney and Kerry Daniels also charged us a reduced rent and we continued to grow and were able to offer an even better standard of service and increased hours. Our membership grew and we moved to 23 Coral Street in 2002. At this time, we increased our opening hours and had approximately 100 members. In 2009 due to our continued growth and a generous rental agreement with Maleny Show Society, the Maleny Community Gym moved to our present home at the beautiful Maleny Showgrounds. Our membership now sits around 230 – 245 financial members and normally we are open 46 hours a week. We also provide a class a week for War veterans and a class for clients of Blackall Range Care. Currently 5 trainers use the Gym for their PT clients. During these 21+ years we have hosted more than 35 students who need to complete industry hours to qualify as Personal Trainers or Diploma students. Some have been trainers here before moving on to further their careers. Our next step will be a purpose built Gym on Council land to take us into the next 20 years. Please follow us on Facebook.