Dear Members,
It has always been our aim to give you as much information as possible with regards to our re-opening of the gym and pool. I must firstly stress that all information given could change at short notice depending on Government guidelines, but hopefully this will not happen. It is also important to let you know that what we are proposing now is only for a 2 month period after which time we will re-assess the situation and see where we can improve and extend our facilities, the success of the re opening is entirely up to you the members. We must ask each and every one of our members to adhere to the new rules and guidelines as much as humanly possible, the most important one being social distancing. Unfortunately the steam room, sauna, bio sauna and heated loungers will not be operational due to their being no possibility to adhere to the social distancing regulations. The hydro pool will be operational but we must ask for the facility to be used responsibly and that no more than 5 people enter the hydro pool at any given time.
We have decided not to have a booking system for the gym or the pool. Prior to lockdown the pool and the gym were never unable to cope with demand, even under social distancing guidelines. If this pattern was to continue on re-opening then we feel a booking system is not necessary. Obviously this will have to be monitored and as stated above if the demand is greater than is permissible we will have to re-evaluate the situation and come up with an alternative plan of action.
As stated previously we are going to hold the large majority of our aerobic classes in the sports hall. This will allow the aerobic studio to become, temporarily the spin studio. By doing this we can place the bikes in a permanent position which must not be moved. We are in the process of coming up with innovative ideas to combine spin class with some sort of weights exercise which will give you an all round workout. This will also allow for an extended workout as we will no longer be allowed to have back to back classes whilst adhering to the guidelines. We hope to have an aerobic schedule up and running by Monday 7th September. Obviously we have to alter the exiting schedule due to new regulations but we will do our best to stay as close as possible to the schedule before lockdown. We are still in the process of contacting all the aerobic teachers to co-ordinate with them a timetable which suits all parties.
Please keep in touch with Maxine at front reception who will keep you updated and inform you once the timetable is finalised. We must stress that all aerobics classes must be booked at least 24 hours in advance and you must arrive at least 5 mins prior to the beginning of the class as their will be no queuing allowed. All members must have their membership card with them to gain access to the club for all facilities for which you wish to use. You must also check in at front reception before you take part in any activity. These rules will be held to vigilantly as they are extremely important for both track and trace and also allowing the club to know exactly how many members are in the building and what the facilities are which they are utilising. To this end we ask that when you are vacating the leisure side of the club that you let reception know that they can check you out.
It goes without saying that every precaution has and will be taken to safeguard your health and wellbeing. The entire premises have been deep cleaned and additional cleaners will be on board to maintain our already high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. Directional signs have been put up around the building which we ask you to adhere to. Hand sanatisers have also been provided around the building for your convenience and we encourage you to use them on entering each department. We also ask that once you have used a piece of equipment that you clean it down after use. In other words look after your fellow members the way you personally would like to be looked after.
I appreciate this may look like a new rule book but if we all adhere to the simple guidelines, in the long run it will be a benefit to us all. It would also be helpful if those of you who may be only utilising the gym or aerobics arrive in the appropriate attire therefore easing pressure on the changing rooms which are going to be under the most scrutiny for social distancing.
I hope that you have found this informative. By no stretch of the imagination have we gone into every detail of the guidelines of what we have to do as a company (20 x A4 pages) I have tried to give an overview of the changes and bullet point what I think are the most important points. I ask that we all show a little patience with all staff and fellow members as we are all trying to do the right thing. The staff will be following instructions given to them by the management so if you have any queries please ask one of the management team who will be more than happy to oblige.
On behalf of myself, management and staff we look forward to seeing all again. We can all only hope that a vaccine for this debilitating disease can be found quickly and that the new normal can be abolished and the old normal can return.
Wishing you all the best,
Michael Modlin
Managing Director
