Women-only beginner weights start at Dovedale Leisure Centre on Wednesday 4 November, 6pm: £3 a session, or £30 for 12 weeks if booked first. CSAC follows in January.

Women-only weight training sessions start at Dovedale Leisure Centre in Moulsham on Wednesday 4 November. They cost £3 a time. The sessions, called Women Time Weights, are aimed at beginners and are already a regular class at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre, where a pilot was so well attended that extra sessions were added (Chelmsford City Council, 28 October 2026).

Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre is next, from January.

When, where and how much

Centre When Cost How to book
Dovedale Leisure Centre Wednesdays, 6pm to 6.45pm, 12 weeks from 4 November 2026 £3 a session, or £30 for all 12 if you book before 4 November Call 01245 605685 or ask at reception
Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre Tuesdays 1pm to 1.45pm and Sundays 5pm to 5.45pm, 12 weeks from 11 January 2027 £3 a session Not open yet; register interest online
South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre Fridays, 6.30pm to 7.15pm and 7.30pm to 8.15pm Standard class prices, or included for monthly members Call 01245 605600, at reception or in the app

The details are on the council’s Women Time page, which also carries the CSAC registration form.

The block price works out at £2.50 a session, a saving of £6 on paying £3 each week. The council says the January start at CSAC is planned rather than fixed.

What the sessions are

Each one is a 45-minute resistance training class for women, run in the gym at a quieter time. The council’s page says:

  • the sessions are for beginners and cover all aspects of resistance training
  • the instructor has extra training in fitness for women going through the perimenopause and menopause, though all ages are welcome
  • other gym users can still use the gym while a session is running

Dovedale is the council-run centre on Chelmsford College’s Moulsham Street campus. It reopened in February after a £2.3 million refurbishment (Chelmsford City Council, 18 February 2026).

Two photographs side by side from a Women Time Weights session at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre: on the left an instructor in a red top talks a woman through a cable machine; on the right an instructor watches an older woman use a leg press.
A Women Time Weights session at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre, where the class began. Photo: supplied by Chelmsford City Council

Why the council is running them

Women Time is the council’s project to get more women active, run by its Community Sport and Wellbeing team. The council says it was set up because women are less likely than men to take part in regular physical activity. This year it has subsidised women-only sessions from weight training to tennis lessons.

The weights sessions are paid for by grant funding. The council’s news post names Active Essex and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as funders of Women Time, and its leisure page says the weights sessions came from a Find Your Active small grant.

Cllr Jennie Lardge, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, said: “Feeling intimidated by the gym is very common and, according to Sport England research, particularly for women. But, as we’ve found with these sessions, once you’re inside, you start to relax in the environment.”

What it means for you

If you want the cheaper block at Dovedale, book before Wednesday 4 November. The 12 weeks for £30 is offered only to those who sign up before then; after that, each session is £3.

If CSAC is nearer, register your interest now. Bookings for the January sessions have not opened.

If you are in South Woodham Ferrers, the Friday classes are on the normal timetable and book like any other class, two to 10 days ahead depending on your membership.

Sources