Active Leeds Customer Statement

Dear Customer,

Current Government advice is that leisure centres will reopen no earlier than the 4th July and there still remains a lot of uncertainty about when the Government will give the green light. This makes planning challenging. 

The Active Leeds service is now moving towards re-opening, liaising closely with colleagues within the Council as well as utilising our wider sector networks and building on the survey responses that many of you kindly provided. 

However other professional bodies, including Swim England, have produced guidance which we are using as a basis upon which to model how we can bring our sites and programmes back safely and at the appropriate time. 

We continue to undertake our own risk assessments on a site by site basis in order to assess the practicalities of reopening. Each site is different and some carry particular challenges, with some sites allowing for social distancing much more easily than others. We know the guidance will limit the number of people in the building at any one time and therefore we have to manage numbers of people coming in and out of the buildings, we are therefore looking at a pre booking approach as a way of managing this requirement. 

To ensure our leisure centres can safely and securely reopen, it is likely that we will need to reopen them in phases. The speed at which we can reopen is dependent on guidance but also the availability of staff – many of whom have been redeployed into the front line COVID response such as social care. We have to be especially mindful of not adversely impacting upon these critical functions. 

Each activity requires its own risk assessment. It is likely that we will in the first instance open up our gyms and fitness classes at a selection of sites and we will then work towards opening more of our spaces over time, such as swimming pools, always making sure we adhere and adapt to the relevant Government guidelines and ensuring that customer and staff wellbeing is central to our approach. 

We empathise with those of you who are desperate to return to regular physical activity and share your frustrations. Protecting the health and wellbeing of both customers and staff remains our primary concern, and this will inform any future decisions that we take regarding the reopening of any facilities at our individual leisure centres. 

Kind regards 

Mark Allman 

Head of Active Leeds

#OpenOurPools

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all safe and well

As you know it was originally believed that pools across the country would be allowed to reopen from 4^th July as stated in the latest phase of easing the lockdown restrictions.

However, Boris Johnson has this lunchtime only given the green light for pubs, theme parks, restaurants, hair salons, cinemas and museums to open for business.

Swim England full article is here:

https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/dismay-frustration-pools-staying-shut/?fbclid=IwAR1k9ENgpqlDy59aRWjivUTrYvcsfzn7ZfQnWqvBp-y5baxKP2CJCZHLUDQ

Swim England Campaign

We have started a campaign to try and get Boris to do a U turn and also allow pools to reopen on the 4th July. Information is here https://bit.ly/SEOpenOurPools

We are asking the public to write to their MP, tweet their MP, sign a petition and share on social media.

It would be a real boost if the athletes and coaches can support through their channels. Below are some suggested tweets for ease if you wish to use them:

Incredibly disappointing to see our sport neglected by @BorisJohnson. That's why I'm backing @Swim_England #OpenOurPools campaign. You can get involved in the campaign here https://bit.ly/SEOpenOurPools

OR

Incredibly disappointing to see swimming neglected by @BorisJohnson. That's why I'm backing @Swim_England #OpenOurPools campaign. You can get involved in the campaign here https://bit.ly/SEOpenOurPools

Some other key points if you need them:

·        If pools cannot open from the 4^th July, the Government is jeopardising the physical and mental wellbeing of millions of people, preventing a generation of children from learning to swim – as well as halting the future of potential Olympic champions.

·        This government has championed the importance of physical activity and sport on physical and mental wellbeing, but today they have prioritised pints over pools

·        Swim England's Returning to the Pool guidance has shown that pools can be well-managed spaces that are safe environments for users with chlorine-filled pools providing a sanitised environment

·        The continued closure of facilities will lead to more pressure being piled on the NHS, with so many people relying on the water to help manage chronic conditions. Last year the Value of Swimming report revealed that aquatic activity helps to save the health and social care system more than £357 million a year.

·        The longer pools are closed for, the more facilities we will sadly see never reopening their doors.

·        The cost to the nation's health and wellbeing of keeping the pools closed longer than necessary is huge.

·        The Government must now act to bring clarity to the sector and allow our pools to open on the 4^th July.

Happy to answer any queries you may have.

Thank you for your support.

Kind Regards Grant Grant Robins

Head of Talent - Swimming

Spring/ Summer Development Refunds

Hi All,

 

Hope you are all well and are hopefully looking forward to returning training soon, fingers crossed.

 

Back in April the decision was made to transfer all entries from the Spring Development Meet to the Summer Development Meet in the hope that the competition would be able to take place.  Unfortunately due to the situation with the Corona Virus we are unsure when it will be safe to compete again.  Therefore we have had to cancel the Summer Development Meet. 

 

Refunds for entries paid in the Denison Suite on a Monday evening (this will be mainly County Squads swimmers)

The City of Leeds swimming club is now in a position to refund any entries fees that were paid to the swimming club in the Denison Suite at John Charles.

 

Any swimmers requiring a refund from the Swimming Club please send the following details to leedsentries@gmail.com where your refund will be dealt with.

-          Name of Swimmer

-          Name of the account holder the refund will be paid to

-          Sort Code

-          Account Number

 

Due to the large amount of emails we hope to process your refund within 14 days.

 

Refunds for entries paid to Leeds City Council over the phone of at Leisure Centre receptions (mainly Stage 8 swimmers)

As the competition did not take place, any entry fees paid over the phone or at the Leisure Centre receptions will not have been transferred over to the swimming clubs account.  Therefore anyone who paid over the phone or at the leisure centre receptions must request a refund from the Leisure Centre once they re open.

Leeds Entries Team

City of Leeds Lockdown Cap Challenge 2020

Please use the link below to watch as our swim­mers and coach­es take part in the City of Leeds Swim Cap Challenge!

City of Leeds Lockdown Cap Challenge 2020

We look forward to hopefully seeing you all back at the pool soon.

Enjoy 🙂

The Regional Team