r/bournemouth

Hi all, there's a person who's been running a bonfire all day for atleast 3 days now just across the road from my house. The smoke is starting to affect my asthma and it smells even inside my house

Is there anything I can do about it realistically because it's starting to piss me off. I'm 17 so I don't know if I can do much but I'm just wondering if there's any laws on it

Everlast Branksome: apparently £30k buys you a couple of benches and a very good excuse.

Back in 2016/17, I used to train at Everlast Branksome with a mate of mine.

We eventually left because the place was looking seriously tired. Things were broken, nothing seemed to get fixed, and the general feeling was that if you complained about something, you’d probably still be looking at the same problem several years later.

So imagine my surprise when Everlast recently contacted me to tell me the gym had finally had a £30,000 refurb.

£30k?! 🎉 Wooof!

After nearly a decade, I was genuinely excited. But also… suspicious.

My mate still occasionally uses the gym when he’s back in town and pays the rather punchy £15 day rate, so I asked him to take a few photos of this magnificent new £30k wonderland.

He did.. And, well… Apparently £30,000 goes a surprisingly long way if you don't spend it fixing anything.

Because pretty much everything that was broken in 2017… is still broken.

The floor? Still taped up, creating what can only be described as a complimentary trip hazard.

The changing room seats? Still ripped.

The ceiling? Still stained.

The walls? Still buckling.

The equipment? Mostly the same, apart from a couple of new benches and a few new bits of kit.

Even the numbers on some of the machines have worn off.

It's basically The Ship of Theseus, but with dumbbells.

My mate started chatting to some of the other gym-goers, and apparently the site manager has proved remarkably resistant to being shamed into fixing things.

At one point he (genuinely) asked the site manager: “What did you spend the money on… cocaine?”

Which, to be fair, would at least explain the absence of visible refurbishment. Apparently the official explanation was that some new leg machines had been bought.

And this is where we need to establish an important distinction:

** Buying a few new bits of equipment is not a refurb. **

A refurb means you look at the things that are broken, dirty, worn out and falling apart… and you refurbish them.

Wild concept, I know.

Then, in a candid conversation, a member of staff apparently revealed that the air-conditioning system had been broken all summer and some of the money had gone towards that, as well as fixing some of the showers — another long-standing complaint.

Which does at least explain where some of the £30k went.

Although it doesn't explain this:

THE FOAM.

There is a piece of foam in the gym that I photographed back in 2017.

It is still there.

Still not cleaned up.

Still standing strong.

Think about what that means.

Since that photograph was taken:

• We've had a global pandemic.
• Russia invaded Ukraine.
• People have had children who are now old enough to start secondary school.
• Entire careers have begun and ended.
• Several phones have died.
• I've probably lost and regained the same 5kg approximately 14 times.

And through it all… The foam remained. A true constant in an ever-changing world. Honestly, I'm beginning to think it should be listed as a heritage asset.

And then there's the contract.

Apparently, once you join Everlast, the contract is pretty solid. So solid, in fact, that there doesn't appear to be much of an escape route short of your employment ending through redundancy or suicide.

Which brings me to my conclusion: It's a solid no from me.

If you're considering joining because you've seen the marketing about the £30k refurb, I'd suggest taking a very close look at what "refurb" actually means. Because if you're expecting a freshly renovated gym, you might instead find yourself reunited with some old friends from 2017.

Including the foam. GOD HOW I MISSED YOU FOAM.

Buyer beware.

Hope this is allowed - I'm a journalist and have been tasked with researching an unsolved murder of Sandra Court in Christchurch, Dorset in 1986 for the production of a documentary that is in research/pre-production. I can't comment exactly what, but it is intended for release on a known streaming service.

Without going into detail or revealing sources, I've established a number of witnesses, both police and members of the public, some of whom I've been able to trace and have had contact from. This has included access to historical newspaper reports and access to television archives, however, I feel I've gone as far as I can with research with this.

You can imagine that the vast majority of outstanding information is from Dorset Police and having contacted them, I've rightly been told that although the murder occurred 40 years ago, because it is technically an ongoing investigation (if lines of enquiry are discovered), they cannot share anything with me.

This post is therefore to reach out to anyone who may remember the case (either police or public) who was involved with the investigation or knew of Sandra Court. It's not my only line of enquiry to discover leads, but I was recommended this forum and after working out how to setup a Reddit account, I've posted on here.

I understand that people may not want to comment or message, so I have created an anonymous form for information to be left that can be found here: https://forms.gle/fZHaQnLjAEtFdw1L8