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Bolton Middlebrook Leisure Trust wins tender with strong wellness, health and fitness bid

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By Kath Hudson    11 Feb 2026

Bolton Middlebrook Leisure Trust has scooped the contract to run five leisure sites as an agent on behalf of Bolton Council. The 15-year contract starts on 1 April. 

Managing director, Neil Hutchinson, told HCM that the trust, which has been operating Bolton Arena since 2021, has been preparing for the bid since his appointment four years ago.

Underdogs in terms of scale, the team are delighted to have fought off competition from much larger operators.

 “To get to the start line and be in a position to even bid for a large leisure tender is a huge challenge for a small local independent leisure trust, such as us,” he says. “We had to work very hard over the last year just to meet the criteria checklist to enable us to submit a competitive bid.

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“Although price was a factor, Bolton Council had written the tender to be more about quality delivery, social value and investing in Bolton communities, this played to our strengths, because our health and wellbeing angle was very highly commended.”

Contract goals include increasing overall participation by 20 per cent and priority groups by 30 per cent. Supporting 10,000 people with inactivity-related health conditions and improving the mental wellbeing of targeted participants by 20 per cent.

“The council wanted an operator that would collaborate with public health and work towards reducing health inequalities across the borough, particularly in areas where there is less access or engagement with health and fitness,” says Hutchinson. “Our health and wellbeing fund is about reinvesting back into Bolton and we’ll also buy most of our support services locally.

“We’ll be working closely with Bolton Council and Public Health on an ABCD approach maximising Asset Based Community Development to improve peoples lives across Bolton.

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“Initiatives which extend beyond the four walls of the leisure centre are planned, for example utilising the parks and green spaces for activities such as yoga. A whole town activation of a population of 180,000 is in the pipeline that will involve a mass orienteering style event  to engage schools, colleges and families.”

One of the leisure centres is a shared site with the NHS, so as part of the GM Active collective the trust will be running the Prehab4Cancer programme. There will also be GP referral cardiac rehab, stroke prevention and Parkinson support programmes ,as well as further engagement with established partners, including Age UK and Bolton Deaf Society. Some instructors have been trained in sign language to run classes for the hard of hearing and this will be extended.

Around £1.2 million will be invested in gym refurbishments across the sites in the next two to three years, replacing gym equipment, upgrading changing areas and creating a health and wellbeing hub with a specialist gym at one of the sites. A wellbeing membership giving access to mental health services and advice on nutrition and sleep with access to a GP will be offered as part of gym memberships.

 “The next challenge is to mobilise for the 1st April and we can’t wait to go live,” says Hutchinson.

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NFL Players from Lakeridge H.S. (Lake Oswego, OR)

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NFL Players from Lakeridge H.S. (Lake Oswego, OR) | SuperWest Sports





















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Here’s an up-to-date list of all NFL Players from Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

The list includes only those players who have played in an NFL game.

See where it ranks among other schools in the state here.

NFL Players from Lakeridge HS
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Liam Rosenior rues ‘two key moments’ that cost Chelsea victory against Leeds

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Liam Rosenior said it was a “bitter pill to swallow” after Chelsea threw away a two-goal lead to allow Leeds to leave Stamford Bridge with a 2-2 draw.

A dominant display from the Blues which had them coasting to a fifth straight Premier League win through goals from Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer’s penalty suddenly gave way to chaos midway through the second half.

Lukas Nmecha halved the arrears from the penalty spot before a remarkable passage of play in which Jayden Bogle singlehandedly paralysed Chelsea’s defence allowing substitute Noah Okafor to tap into an empty net.

It had looked like being another step forward for the hosts who have been steadily growing into an exciting, watchable outfit under their new head coach.

Their abrupt collapse though pointed to a fragility in the face of setbacks that appears no closer to a resolution, as two points slipped away.

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“Two key moments in the game that we don’t take care of,” said Rosenior. “We don’t stay calm. How the play gets there, we make a few poor decisions in the way we press and we give away a penalty.

“I can’t remember Leeds having a shot or a moment in the game. Some of our football in possession, our press and our energy was everything I wanted to see. That makes it even more of a bitter pill to swallow that we haven’t won the game.”

Leeds’ equaliser owed as much to Bogle’s tenacity in outmuscling Chelsea’s defence as it did to the Blues’ own hesitancy in dealing with the danger, though Rosenior believed his team should have had a free-kick.

“The lad handballs it,” he said. “It affects my players in that moment, they think it’s a handball, they switch off, we don’t clear the ball and they score. Then for 25 minutes it was wave after wave of attack.”

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Under Rosenior there have been encouraging signals of a more dynamic approach to possession that has made Chelsea more threatening, and here again the ball moved with urgency, particularly through midfield where his side constantly seemed to outnumber Leeds.

In the end, it counted for little as old frailties were once more brought to the fore.

“We have to make sure we take care of moments and be professional,” said Rosenior. “It’s not about reacting to setbacks. You’re always going to have a spell in they game when you’re not on top. The ridiculous thing for us is that they’ve managed to score two goals in a five-minute period when for the other 90 minute we were by far the better team.”

Leeds boss Daniel Farke, whose team have lost just twice in their last 13 in the league going back to December’s 3-1 win over the Blues, reflected that there was much for his players to take pride in.

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“A proper night of football,” he said. “A great night for everyone involved with Leeds United. I’m very proud of the players. Such a fightback.

“We have a never-say-die attitude. We have a self-belief that whatever happens we can always come back.

“I’m proud of this mentality.”

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Spurs’ Castle exits vs. Lakers with pelvis contusion

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Second-year guard Stephon Castle suffered a pelvis contusion against the Los Angeles Lakers and was ruled out for the remainder of the game at the beginning of the third quarter. The Athletic’s Jared Weiss reported that X-rays on the injury came back negative.

Castle, 21, appeared to sustain the injury when he went up to block a Rui Hachimura dunk in the second quarter. He fell hard to the floor and was spotted grabbing his lower back on the way to the locker room.

The UConn product had two points and seven assists in 11 minutes against the Lakers before being forced to exit.

Castle entered Tuesday’s contest as the Spurs’ third-leading scorer, averaging 17.1 points per game. He also leads the team in assists, dishing out 7.0 per game.

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The Spurs sit second in the Western Conference with a 36-16 record.

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Sketch says he’s “not touching” Clash Royale unless Supercell acknowledges Jynxzi’s impact amid recent controversy

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Twitch streamer Kylie “Sketch,” also known as “TheSketchReal,” has stated that he is “not touching” Clash Royale, unless Supercell acknowledges Nicholas “Jynxzi’s” impact on the game’s rise in popularity. For context, on February 10, 2026, Supercell CEO and co-founder Ilkka Paananen published a blog post in which he described 2025 as Clash Royale’s “historic year.”

According to Paananen, the real-time strategy mobile game saw 500% increase in new players, and “every major measure of playtime and engagement grew significantly.” The Finnish personality attributed these positive growth metrics to the Supercell team members’ “relentless focus on making things better for players.”

Sketch took to X on the same day (February 10, 2026) to express his dissatisfaction with Supercell for not recognizing Jynxzi’s role in making Clash Royale popular in 2025.

Claiming that he was “done letting” Jynxzi “be humble,” Sketch wrote:

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“Not touching @ClashRoyale again until @supercell acknowledges Jynxzi’s impact. Disgusting to act as if a dev changed a game that’s been the same for years. @jynxzi I’m done letting you be humble. From Clash, RL & R6 YOU revived those games. The only creator to do so AND include the community of those games. While also bringing in even more creators‼️ You change lives and deserve RECOGNITION and COMPENSATION. NUMBERS DONT LIE‼️‼️‼️ THE JYNXZI EFFECT IS REAL, PAY THAT MAN 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ @supercell”


MrBeast, Lacy, and more streamers react, as Jynxzi says Supercell’s recent statement about Clash Royale’s popularity is “probably the biggest spit in the face he has ever seen”

On February 10, 2026, Jynxzi shared a screenshot of Ilkka Paananen’s blog post from the same day, where Supercell CEO described 2025 as “a historic year” for Clash Royale.

Jynxzi claimed the game developer’s comments were “probably the biggest spit in the face he had ever seen,” and posted:

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Jimmy “MrBeast” responded, saying that he started playing Clash Royale again “only because” of Jynxzi:

“I only started playing again because of you” MrBeast wrote.

Several prominent Twitch streamers, including Nick “Lacy,” Din “Agent 00,” and Jack “CouRage,” commented on the 24-year-old’s social media post:

“there is a serious problem with gaming companies not recognizing us creators when we are a pivotal piece in reviving the games” Lacy wrote.

“Ngl I thought they gave you equity from how hard you were pushing it 😭😭 they owe you some millions” Agent 00 wrote.

“I only watched/engaged with Clash Royale content because of you. It was honestly the most interested I’ve ever been with the game in its life cycle.” CouRage wrote.


Supercell has not addressed the backlash from streamers and content creators, as of this writing.