Reopening of Worthing leisure centres welcomed

Worthing Borough Council today welcomed the news that fitness fans will be able to use leisure facilities in the town from this weekend (Saturday July 25) .

South Downs Leisure, a registered charity which operates Worthing Leisure Centre, Splashpoint, Field Place Manor House & Barns and Davison Leisure Centre, has introduced a range of measures to ensure their facilities will be safe and welcoming once COVID restrictions are lifted.

This will ensure all four centres will reopen in some form in the coming weeks, offering gym space, exercise classes, as well as squash, badminton and tennis, to thousands of members and visitors.

However, due to the high operational costs and difficulty to maintain social distancing, the swimming pools at Splashpoint will temporarily remain closed.

This will be reviewed once the charity are happy that their other centres are working well with all safety restrictions in place.

Worthing Borough Council, which has handed responsibility for the running of its leisure facilities to South Downs Leisure, supported the move.

Cllr Edward Crouch, Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services, said: “This is great news for residents, who will be able to get their fitness fix in safe and welcoming facilities, and great news for South Downs Leisure, which does a fantastic job running our centres while contributing a huge amount to the wider community.

“Reopening facilities after four months is not an easy task but I’ve been impressed with the steps and care that the management team at South Downs has taken to ready these valuable resources for action.

“While I appreciate that some will be disappointed the swimming pools will not immediately reopen, the safety of staff and customers must come first in these unprecedented times.” 

Ahead of reopening South Downs Leisure has implemented a range of measures derived from Government, Public Health, UK Active and National Governing Body guidelines.

Worthing Leisure Centre will be offering one of the largest gym spaces on the south coast, with plenty of room to socially distance and still make use of all the equipment. There will also be an extensive exercise class programme in various studios, as well as squash and table tennis.

Davison Leisure Centre will offer badminton, tennis and table tennis, in addition to the fitness studio, while Field Place will offer a number of exercise classes aimed at mind and body, such as Pilates, yoga and mindfulness.

Splashpoint Leisure Centre will be opening on Saturday 1st August, to offer a number of exercise classes in two different studios, as well as their gym with stunning sea views. 

Duncan Anderson, South Downs Leisure CEO, said: “We are delighted to be able to reopen our centres and welcome back our members. The changes and restrictions we’ve put in place should hopefully mean that visitors to our centres do so with the peace of mind that they can exercise safely and with minimal risk.”

He added: “We expect our members to be understandably disappointed that swimming at Splashpoint will not be opening with our other services. We too are sad to not be able to offer this, but the safety of our customers and the longevity of our charity are the most important aspects here. We want to be around to get our members active long into the future and not opening the pools straight away safeguards this to some extent. We will work to get the pools open as soon as we feel it is achievable.”

For further updates on the reopening of South Downs Leisure’s facilities and their new timetables, visit www.southdownsleisure.co.uk