Go Active leisure centres accross St Helens Borough will reopen from Saturday 24 October

Councillor’s disappointment over indoor gyms and leisure centre closure legislation

Go Active leisure centres across St Helens Borough will reopen from Saturday 24 October.

The announcement comes following a change in government legislation which now allows gyms and leisure centres across the Liverpool City Region – which is in Tier 3 (Covid Alert Level: Very High) – to continue operating.   
 
Queens Park Health & Fitness, Newton-le-Willows Health & Fitness, and Sutton Leisure Centre will resume full activity programmes from Saturday 24 October.  
  
The gym at Parr Swimming and Fitness Centre will remain closed until Monday 26 October while alternative arrangements are put in place for the free school meals service.  

With soft play areas on the government’s closed list for Tier 3 zones, Willowbees adventure play area based in Newton-le-Willows Health & Fitness will be closed until further notice. 

A one-week pilot of public swimming lessons with new Covid-secure measures in place will start at Newton-le-Willows Health & Fitness on Monday 2 November which, if successful, will be introduced at Queens Park Health & Fitness on Monday 9 November.  

Meanwhile, the primary school swimming programme will recommence at Newton-le-Willows Health and Fitness from Monday 2 November.  
  
Councillor Anthony Burns, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Leisure, Libraries and Heritage, said: “It is recognised nationally the key role exercise has on, not only an individual’s physical health, but their mental health, too. This is even more important when we are faced with the current situation of COVID and lockdown measures  – so I welcome the reopening of our health and fitness centres – but it should never have come to this in the first place. Government made a mistake in closing them, I am glad that we have managed to get them to change their mind. 
 
“Our leisure centres welcome more than a million visitors a year and the measures that we have taken have been extremely successful and welcomed by users. We haven’t had a single outbreak in any of our centres – members of the public are certainly in safe hands when visiting our sites, which is largely down to the genuinely caring and dedicated team we have in place here.”  
 
For more information, including how to become a Go Active member, visit: https://goactive.sthelens.gov.uk/ 

Related Posts