Reopening date for local leisure centres announced

Local leisure centres in Three Rivers are set to reopen after being given the green light by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

South Oxhey Leisure Centre, William Penn Leisure Centre and Rickmansworth Golf Course managed by sports and leisure operator Everyone Active in partnership with Three Rivers District Council, will reopen their doors on Wednesday 2 December following a month’s closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Government confirmed on Monday 23 November that leisure centres would be safe to reopen with strict operational measures in place.

Local restrictions mean not all activities are available at all centres. Full information on how the tier system affects your local centre is available here .

Everyone Active has committed to keeping its customers safe and active, ensuring it will meet and exceed Government guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 with the Everyone Active Pledge. Full detail on the operator’s pledge and safety measures can be found here.

While its 200 leisure centres across the country have been closed, Everyone Active has provided a comprehensive package of online workouts for people to use, along with live streamed classes across its social media pages.

John Sewell, Everyone Active’s area contract manager, said: “We’re very much looking forward to reopening our centres and welcoming back the local community.

“After being closed for a month, this announcement from Government is the news the leisure industry has been eagerly awaiting.

“It is very important to give people the opportunity to resume activity and exercise in their leisure centre, particularly during the winter months, and this will go a long way to maintaining the good health of local communities.

“We would like to thank the 615,000 people across the country who signed the petition we supported to keep gyms open, which triggered a Parliamentary debate, and to acknowledge the impressive way the leisure industry has pulled together.

“We would also like to thank Three Rivers District Council for their support, which has proved invaluable during this challenging year.

“Ensuring our colleagues and customers remain safe is our number one priority and we have carefully considered the strict measurements to ensure we adhere to the guidance.

“We will be contacting all customers directly over the coming days regarding the centres reopening. We look forward to welcoming everyone back and thank them for their patience.”

Councillor Chris Lloyd, Lead Member for Leisure, added: “It has been a difficult year for many of our residents and we are all being reminded that exercise has such an important part to play on both our physical and mental health, so I am very pleased to see that our leisure centres and golf course will be reopening from the 2 December. We support the effort to stop the spread of Coronavirus and Everyone Active have implemented processes to minimise the opportunities for spread of the virus, inside the leisure centres. I witnessed these myself before Lockdown 2 and I am confident that our leisure centres are safe and ready to welcome people back. I do remind everyone to follow the safety process that are in place. I look forward to be back playing Badminton”

For further information on Everyone Active and its leisure centres, visit www.everyoneactive.com .