A £7m community leisure, lifestyle and day care centre has opened in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire.

One of the first of its kind in Scotland, South Lanarkshire Lifestyle integrates community leisure facilities with a day care centre for adults with learning disabilities.

Developed by South Lanarkshire Council and the charitable trust South Lanarkshire Leisure, the facility has been designed to meet the needs of the council’s sports and recreation department as well as its social work team.

Additional funding partners include New Leaf Partnership, Scottish Executive’s Better Neighbourhood Services Fund, Greater Glasgow Health Board, sportscotland Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.

The centre, which is expected to receive 230,000 visits a year, will significantly enhance sports facilities available to local schools and is ideally placed to serve both the Cambuslang and Rutherglen communities.

One of the greatest benefits of the facility, however, is the inclusion of adults with special needs into a mainstream complex, said head of operations at South Lanarkshire Leisure, Gerry Campbell.

“The centre is fully integrated and open to everyone,” he said. “It hits all the right buttons and the initial response from the community has been great.

“We’re now looking at rolling the model out across South Lanarkshire.”

Managed by South Lanarkshire Leisure, the facility has the largest council-run gym in the area – a 75-station, fully inclusive gym equipped by Precor – as well as a 25m, six-lane swimming pool, dance studio, six tennis courts/football pitches, a sauna, steamroom and coffee bar.

Gym staff are also trained to work with people with special needs.

Day care users have access to all leisure facilities as well as a kitchen area to learn domestic life skills; an IT room to learn keyboards skills, access learning software online and improve communication and problem solving skills; an arts and crafts room and a range of group work rooms.