Edinburgh Leisure reopens six of its leisure venues
Edinburgh Leisure, the city’s largest sports and leisure operator, will be reopening its doors at six of its venues, today, Monday, 14 September 2020.
The venues reopening on 14 September are: Ainslie Park Leisure Centre (badminton, fitness, gym, swim), Craiglockhart Leisure and Tennis Centre (badminton, fitness, gym and indoor and outdoor tennis and squash), Drumbrae Leisure Centre (badminton, fitness, gym, swim), The Royal Commonwealth Pool (fitness, gym, swim) Leith Victoria (fitness, gym, swim), and Gracemount Leisure Centre (badminton, fitness, gym, swim).
They will initially be reopening their gyms, fitness classes, tennis, badminton and squash courts, and lane swimming in these centres. Bookings went live for members at 9pm on Thursday, 10 September and for non-members on Friday, 11 September.
Their six golf courses have been open since 4 June, and there has been a big upturn in demand for tee times. Their outdoor tennis courts have also been open since June and have been free to play.
Whilst First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon brought forward the date that indoor leisure venues could reopen to 31 August 2020, Edinburgh Leisure has always been working towards the original date that was indicated of 14 September.
An Edinburgh Leisure spokesperson explained: “We’re delighted to be re-opening the doors at six of our venues on 14 September and have been busy preparing for our customers return. We’ve missed them, as I know, many of them us.
“As you can imagine, bringing Edinburgh Leisure’s diverse range of venues and services ‘back to life’ in a COVID-19 environment is a big and complex task. We had over 900 staff on furlough, and it’s been necessary to check and refresh/update relevant compliance training before we could reopen, for example. Our number one goal is to provide our customers with a clean, safe and enjoyable Edinburgh Leisure experience.”
The Edinburgh Leisure experience will be different from before but customers will still receive the warm, Edinburgh Leisure welcome.
The main changes that customers will see are:
- All activities must be pre booked via the Edinburgh Leisure app or website;
- They will be operating in a cashless environment, accepting contactless payments;
- Safety guidance will be on display throughout the venues;
- Additional sanitisation stations have been installed throughout the venues for use before and after each visit;
- All activities are timetabled with staggered session start times to reduce congestion;
- Customers will be encouraged to wear face coverings in communal areas, but not for their activities.
Edinburgh Leisure has produced a series of videos and guidelines to virtually help customers through their first visit, and have a new ‘Ask Us’ section, which is available on their website, advising and supporting customers to make a booking and answering any questions they may have.
Edinburgh Leisure, like every leisure trust in Scotland, is facing huge financial challenges. They continue to lobby the Government for financial support for the sector to ensure the sector survives and can continue to contribute to the country’s health and wellbeing.
June Peebles, CEO of Edinburgh Leisure said: “Edinburgh Leisure is committed to ‘building back better’ to a sustainable Edinburgh Leisure and to continue making a positive impact to the citizens of Edinburgh’s health and wellbeing – as we have done for the last 22 years.
“Never before has health and wellbeing been so important. And Edinburgh Leisure remain committed to supporting the people of Edinburgh to be active and enjoy good health.”
Edinburgh Leisure is a charity dedicated to creating opportunities for everyone to lead more active, healthy lives. They do this by running over 30+ sports and leisure facilities across the city and deliver their Active Communities programme, which helps improve the lives of people affected by health conditions, poverty, inequalities and disabilities.
For more information: www.edinburghleisure.co.uk
