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Glasgow Life announces opening dates for its gyms

By Tom Walker    07 Jul 2020
Glasgow Life will open its Glasgow Club Springburn in the north of the city on 21 September / Glasgow Life

Glasgow Life, which runs leisure and culture facilities on behalf of Glasgow City Council, has said that it will begin opening its gyms and fitness facilities from 17 August.

The operator said the first site to open will be its Glasgow Club Scotstoun, where the gym, fitness studios and outdoor pitches will be made available for users. The centre's swimming pools, however, will remain closed.

Next to open will be the fitness facilities at Tollcross International Swimming Centre on 24 August – but again, the pools will remain shut.

The first two openings will then be followed by the fitness facilities at Glasgow Club Donald Dewar and the Emirates Arena (31 August) and Glasgow Club Bellahouston and Glasgow Club Gorbals (7 September).

The remaining fitness facilities will also be opened in phases – Glasgow Club Kelvin Hall and Glasgow Club Castlemilk will reopen on 14 September, followed by Glasgow Club Springburn and Glasgow Club Maryhill on 21 September.

The first swimming pools will reopen to the public at Tollcross and Gorbals on 28 September.

Glasgow Life is the first operator in Scotland, England or Wales to reveal concrete reopening plans.

Its plans are, however, still dependent on the Scottish government relaxing current COVID-19 lockdown measures.

The government is following a four-part route map out of lockdown – in which gyms and indoor fitness will be allowed to open under Phase 3. Scotland is currently in Phase 2.

Glasgow Life outlined its reopening plans in a lengthy statement, in which it also said it is facing "significant financial challenges" regarding its services.

As a result of the financial pressures, the trust revealed that not all of its venues would re-open.

"Since lockdown began, we’ve received hundreds of enquiries about which of our venues and facilities will be reopening and when," the statement reads.

"This statement clarifies our current position and explains the phased approach we’ll be taking in reopening some of the city’s museums, libraries and sporting venues over the coming weeks.

"It also highlights the significant financial and other challenges we continue to face in re-starting any of our services.

"We have identified 61 venues and facilities which we’re aiming to reopen across four phases between July and October.

"We’ve already delivered phase one with the reopening of 11 golf, tennis and lawn bowls facilities across the city last month.

"Phase three will run throughout July and will see more of our office-based and frontline staff returning to work to prepare venues for reopening to the public.

"Phase four, from August to October, will see the reopening of some of our venues to the public more widely, in line with ongoing public health and government guidance.

"As we prepare for a new way of living and working after coronavirus, our fundamental concern must be to ensure that our facilities are safe for our staff and the public.

"We have furloughed nearly 1,000 employees while many more are shielding or have underlying health or childcare issues; significantly reducing the capacity of our workforce.

"While the government’s Job Retention Scheme will provide some financial relief, it won’t compensate fully for the substantial losses we’re facing this year, which could run into tens of millions of pounds.

"This means that some of what we did previously will not continue in the same way. It’s simply not possible. Ongoing social distancing restrictions also mean many of our 171 venues can’t re-open safely; and we will need more staff than before to be working at the venues we do reopen to ensure these restrictions are followed.

"With that being the case, not all of the venues we currently run will re-open and not all of the services we deliver will continue.

"Without doubt, the effects of this crisis will be felt for some time to come.

"There are no easy solutions and it’s highly unlikely that we will be able to return to anything like our normal service provision in the near future."

• To see Glasgow Life's full reopening plans, click here.

Glasgow Life  Glasgow City Council  Scottish government 
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