Fears of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus reduced the number of people attending, but Stuart was still welcomed by Alton town mayor Cllr Pam Jones, members of the Active Alton Working Group and several donors who had contributed to the costs of the project.
Stuart, who lives locally, is a Paralympic gold medallist and national disability champion on the trampoline.
The Active Alton Working Group said: “At a time when physical fitness has never been so important for the health of the nation, the directory gives vital information to help people choose just what physical activity they wish to be taking.
“The directory is already online but the printed version is now available at the library, all the local doctors’ surgeries, the community centre, the Assembly Rooms, the Maltings and many other venues around town.
“This version is a resource for all those local citizens who do not use the internet for information. It should also be helpful for all the families who have recently moved to Alton into the extensive new-builds around the town.”
For the Active Alton Working Group, publishing the printed version ends a 20-month delay caused by Covid.
The original plan, scheduled for April 2020, was to let everyone in the GU34 postcode know the booklet was available while simultaneously launching the website.
But with the first lockdown starting a month earlier the project was put on hold. The online version appeared on the Alton Town Council website in September 2020 at https://altonevents.co.uk/activealton/, but it was not until last month that the arrival of the booklet was finally announced.
Funding for the project came from The Alton Society plus grants from East Hampshire district councillors Suzie Burns, Richard Platt, Diana Tennyson and Ingrid Thomas. Alton Town Council provided support and the website was built by Roger and Paul Joel at Bureau14.
The working group added: “Now is the time to take full advantage of the enormous number of opportunities for increasing your physical activity.”