Excellent facilities and everyone is friendly. I've packed on a solid 23lbs of muscle but the…read morehardest things to lift arent weights but our feelings. The gym helps me cope with my divorce. Often I cry at the squat rack so if you see me just give me a moment please. I often tell friends when I turn up to coffee with my eyes swollen and red that someone urinated in the pool again but they know I've been crying again.

As part of Liverpool Council's Lifestyles range of sports centres and gyms, you can see the money…read moreand effort that has been put into this place to bring it into the 21st Century and make it an integral part of the community. The centre has been here for nearly 30 years and was greatly underused except for the many football parties I went to as a kid! Now the gyms are kitted out with state of the art gear, there are regular fitness classes for all levels in the sports hall, two decent sized astro-turfs can be found at the front - and if they are not being used by the local kids they seem to attract a lot of 5-a-side - and a good size pool with sauna and steam room. I can't really knock the place because it is well cheap and is obviously doing a very good job at placing itself at the heart of the Garston community, however, this also measn that the place can be very busy at peak times and it is often very hard to judge when it will not be full of kids! The pool always seems to have school groups or out of hours swimming clubs. While this commendable they also seem to find their way into the gym and will often hang around - or off - much of the equipment! But there is a waterslide!

We held the funeral reception here after my mothers funeral here. We couldn't have asked for a…read morebetter service. The buffet was lovely and plenty of it. The service was excellent and sue and her husband very friendly.

StHelens Bowling Club is a small welcoming club with a nice bar, snooker table and crown green for…read morebowlers. There is a good welcome from behind the bar and members are friendly. It's found behind a long brick wall through a discreet green door and is like a secret garden! It does weddings and christenings etc. I think it was founded in 1881.

had a great night at the charity fundraiser last night very well organised and much funread more

The old police station of Lark Lane is a great place to step into if you're strolling down at the…read moreweekend. There's always something going on and the chances are you'll come away with your arms laden with treasures. You can practically see the dollar signs covering your eyes after you take it all to the Antiques Roadshow. This never happens. The Grand Charity Flea Markets are the best events to attend. It's here that books and videos are sold by the tonne, as well as household bric-a-brac, furniture, collectibles and a whole lot of crap. The fact the admission fee is a laughably small 30p makes it seem like something from the 1940s and is another jewel in the crown of the lane.

St. Michael's and Lark Lane Community Assosiation or the SMLLCA is home to a massive variety of…read moreactivities, workshops and events for the local communty. The community association is a registered charity which is run by its members. It is the heart of Lark Lane. Many different groups use the centre including self help groups, after school groups, pre-school groups, sports groups and tarde unions. Many different events take place at the centre such as polling day, jumble sales, flea markets, fairs, music events, exhibitions, record fairs and public enquiries. The building used to be the police station on lark lane and is often referred to as the Oid Police Station by locals. It comprises of 2 large halls which are used to their full potential are I doubt are rarely unused throughout the year. It seems that in this day and age we have forgotten the meaning of the word community. If you need reminding of this then check out the St. Michael's and Lark Lane Community Assosiation.

This came as an enormous surprise to me about twelve years ago, as my youngest son asked could he…read morestart rowing on a regular basis and I asked, Where?. While still a teacher, I had been reliably (I thought) informed that the council wouldn't allow any form of boating on this stretch of the Mersey, nice though it looked, as the field nearby had been a sewage treatment plant and rubbish tip in the past. I had wanted to teach our pupils how to paddle a kayak. Then the Warrington Rowing Club started attracting members and my son spent a good while learning the basics before growing bored as he did with most things (teenage boy!) The Club, since then, has gone from strength to strength and now has representatives at all major national and international events. They still encourage and train youngsters and have boats from single sculls up to rowing eights as well as elaborate training machines. I still think that their choice of venue is a little suspect, but have to admit that they have made a huge success story of it. Every summer, they stage the Warrington Regatta, this year's was really impressive as it lasted right through the day and many of the competitors showed amazing skills and power - future (and present) internationals.