Photo courtesy of Vancouver Park Board
The Vancouver Park Board will continue to reserve a two-hour weight room time slot at the Britannia Community Centre for the trans, gender diverse and two-spirit community (TGD2S).
The park board says it is extending the TGD2S weight room space for another three months after a successful four-week trial.
In 2014, the park board formed a TGD2S Inclusion Advisory Committee to collect feedback about how to increase access to park and recreation services and produce a report.
One of the report's recommendations was to have a safe place for trans people to exercise, says TGD2S program coordinator Josie Pearce. "It's pretty exciting because there's nothing like it in the city."
Pearce says the success of the program will be evaluated again in another three months but so far "it's getting pretty good attendance. It seems like there's definitely a need and people keep returning, which is really great. We're getting really positive feedback."
The weight room is reserved for TGD2S identified individuals, their friends and family from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sunday at Britannia Community Centre, located just off of Commercial Drive.
"This is something that's been needed for a long time in the community because fitness is just a super vulnerable place and a challenging space to navigate," says Pearce. "I am very happy people are interested in this program and I really hope more people know about it and can benefit from it."
The park board has also been running a TGD2S swim at Templeton Park Pool since 2015 on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
