\n Bene Leisure Centre, on Little Horton Lane, opened in November 2025 and has since developed into a sports hub.\n<\/p>\n
\n Operations manager Mazn Ahamed said the vision has always extended beyond simply providing these facilities.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We’re trying to become like a village of activities,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We want to provide other things, from cricket to golf.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We’ve got two golf simulators and we’re offering coaching and golfing as well.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Ahamed outside Bene Leisure Centre. (Image: Mazn Ahamed)\n<\/p>\n
‘We want more people across West Yorkshire to know what Bene is’<\/p>\n
\n Mr Ahamed said awareness of the centre has grown significantly over the last 10 months, but there is still room to reach more people.\n<\/p>\n
\n “A lot of people know about the centre,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “But I think for the upcoming year our aim is to get more people across West Yorkshire to know what Bene is.”\n<\/p>\n
\n He estimates that between 200 and 250 people visit the venue on busy weekend days, with footfall continuing to increase as more facilities open.\n<\/p>\n
\n The centre is now home to padel courts, cricket training lanes, golf simulators and a number of independent businesses, including Era Pilates and the soon-to-open Alpha Gym.\n<\/p>\n
Padel emerges as the biggest success story<\/p>\n
\n According to Mr Ahamed, one activity has stood above the rest.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The most popular thing has been padel,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The sport has exploded in popularity across the UK in recent years, and Mr Ahamed believes its accessibility is key.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s very easy to play. It’s very hard to master, but it’s very easy to play.”\n<\/p>\n
\n He added that the sport has proven particularly attractive to older participants because it requires less running than many traditional racket sports.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “It’s really popular among the elderly population because you don’t have to run as much and you don’t have to move as fast.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It works on your mobility; it works on your motor skills and gets the brain active. A lot of elderly people are getting into this sport, which is good.”\n<\/p>\n
Supporting schools and community groups<\/p>\n
\n While growing the business remains important, Mr Ahamed said helping local people become more active remains at the heart of the project.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We are a business at the end of the day and we have to make money,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “But our main goal is to get people active.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The centre works with schools and community groups and has offered heavily discounted and, in some cases, free sessions for young people.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We do a lot of programmes to get kids off the streets and get them active,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The venue also provides discounts for council workers and support for emergency service staff visiting during breaks.\n<\/p>\n
Pilates studio creating a community<\/p>\n
\n One of the newest additions to the centre is Era Pilates.\n<\/p>\n
\n Co-founder Emma Hyndman said demand had exceeded expectations.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We have experienced such a demand from the ladies of Bradford,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Era previously opened sites in Wakefield and Shipley, but Ms Hyndman said Bradford had brought something different.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I feel like we’ve definitely found a niche market and filled a void that a lot of ladies were missing here in Bradford.”\n<\/p>\n
Gym owner hopes to inspire others<\/p>\n
\n Alpha Gym is another business preparing to open at the complex.\n<\/p>\n
\n Founder Osama Malik, who grew his brand from a small gym in Bradford, said the expansion had exceeded anything he originally imagined.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I just wanted to help the community and help keep kids off the streets,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Then it’s turned into this big business with a major gym, awards and recognition.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Rather than focusing solely on exercise, the gym has already organised padel sessions, badminton clubs and running groups.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We’ve got a really good founding membership, and everyone gets along really well,” he said. “It’s like a family.”\n<\/p>\n
Anniversary plans in the pipeline<\/p>\n
\n As Bene approaches its first birthday in November, Mr Ahamed is considering ways to celebrate the milestone.\n<\/p>\n
\n While plans have yet to be finalised, he suggested social media events or even a treasure hunt around the site could form part of the celebrations.\n<\/p>\n
\n He also hinted that further expansion could be on the horizon.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We’ve got the space and we’re looking to get more stuff in,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There are plans, but they’re still in the pipeline.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bene Leisure Centre, on Little Horton Lane, opened in November 2025 and has since developed into a sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-762836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}