Paralympic Medallist Uses New College Swindon Gym to Train
After his recent trip to Japan with the Paralympic Basketball Team, Ben Fox is back in Swindon. Hyper-focused on his training, Ben is taking advantage of the new, accessible fitness facilities available at the College.
In November 2025, New College Swindon’s North Star campus opened a brand-new gym. The gym is equipped with resistance and cardiovascular machines, free weights and more. Open throughout the day, the gym allows students a space to take a break from their studies and refocus their minds.
At his recent visit, Ben gave valuable feedback to the team about how accessible the gym was. He said that it’s all very modern and a lot of it can be adapted for disabilities. Some examples include: the bench press, a free-weight exercise using a barbell, can be modified to a chest press using the pulleys built into one of the resistance machines.
Head of Sports, Dan Thorley, said, “Disability shouldn’t stop people from getting fit. There will be students like Ben who don’t realise their potential. We want to find them and inspire the next Paralympian.”
The gym is open to all NCS students and staff for free, providing a unique space to exercise with a range of benefits. These benefits include: free advice and personalised fitness programmes. Adults aged 19+ can also do a Gym Instructing course and get a qualification under their belt to earn more.
Ben Fox said, “This is a very chilled, non-intimidating gym. Going to the gym is number one for my mental health. It’s brilliant that students have access to this free of charge.”
