Croydon’s leisure centres will begin a phased reopening from next week, welcoming residents back to enjoy a range of activities and opportunities to exercise while maintaining their social distance.
From Saturday 25 July the council’s leisure operators GLL will reopen the gym, swimming pool and exercise classes at Croydon’s new £25m New Addington Leisure Centre and Thornton Heath Leisure Centre. At the same time, Waddon and South Norwood Leisure Centres will reopen the gym and resume running classes.
Indoor sport facilities, such as sports halls, at New Addington, Thornton Heath, Waddon and South Norwood will be open from 8 August, with swimming resuming at Waddon and South Norwood from September.
New measures will be introduced at all leisure centres to help keep visitors and staff safe, including pre-booked time slots to use the facilities and one-way systems in the buildings. Members will be able to book their visit seven days in advance from 10pm and non-members will be able to book five days in advance, with bookings restricted to one activity per day. The cleaning and sanitising routines will also be stepped up. Find out more and book slots via the Better UK App or Better website.
Purley, Ashburton Hall and Monks Hill leisure centres will begin to reopen in due course.
“Our leisure centres offer a fantastic range of services including the chance to join exercise classes, use the gym, swim and more, so it’s great that they can begin to reopen. Our operators GLL are going to have to do things a little differently to help everyone enjoy them as safely as possible and we can all do our bit by following the new measures, to protect ourselves and each other.”
Councillor Oliver Lewis, cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport
David Hughes, Partnership Manager for Better Leisure Centres in Croydon said: “After nearly four months of lockdown, we are delighted to finally have the green light for reopening our leisure facilities in a phased fashion. Keeping people safe is now a shared responsibility and as a leisure operator we will be working in partnership with customers to ensure they have complete confidence when they return. We’ll be ensuring enhanced sanitisation of equipment and public areas. Customers can help by downloading our Better app, pre-booking their slot and arriving on time and dressed for their activity.
“The changes we are making will ensure we can maintain social distancing in centres and provide the best possible experience for customers. We recognise that some people may be worried about returning to their local leisure facilities, so we will continue to offer free access to online fitness and exercises classes via our Better app. We look forward to seeing you soon.”
