Working to keep our centres safe!

24/03/2020

UPDATED STATEMENT: 24/03/20

In response to the revised guidance from the Government, Brandhall Golf Course is now closed with immediate affect until further notice.

We would like to urge all our customers to follow the advice given by Gov.uk and Public Health England, stay at home!

Please follow our social media pages for all the latest information.

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus has seen an effect on us all, and you may be questioning whether you should be visiting the leisure centre or not.

We would like to take an opportunity to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to keep our community safe.

It is business as usual for Sandwell Leisure Trust, but we are of course keeping a very close eye on the situation, which is changing daily.

Here are a few of the measures we are undertaking to keep staff and customers using our leisure centres safe:

We are:

Communicating to staff on the importance and practise of good hand-washing and hygiene
Implemented extra hand sanitiser stations, cleaning agents and wipes in our centres
Increased the cleaning procedures throughout our leisure centres

As we have seen, the best way to battle this situation is by everyone pulling together.

Therefore, we would ask all our customers to:

Wash your hands at the earliest point upon entering our building and again before leaving
Clean your workout station after use, whether this is in a gym or a class. We have provided an antibacterial spray to assist this
Where possible, use bank cards to pay for activities, although we are still accepting cash

Finally, as suggested by GOV.UK, if you are showing any signs of illness in way of a high temperature or a new persistent cough – please stay at home and self-isolate for at least 14 days. During times like this, we need to spread love – not germs!

If you would like more information on the sign and symptoms of coronavirus please click here

We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates for our customers as soon as we have more information.

Many thanks for your continued support.

16/03/20

12.15pm

UPDATED STATEMENT 17/03/20, 10.30am

The Trust Management Team have met and updated the SLT Covid-19 risk assessment.

The outcome of this is we are open as normal.

New measures will be implemented with immediate effect which include:

All fitness classes will be shortened by 5 minutes to allow for cleaning down of equipment
We would urge everyone to where possible to avoid using cash and pay for sessions using bank cards
The fitness class programme is being closely monitored and is subject to change

The safety of our staff and customers comes first, so with this in mind if you are one of the groups of people being asked to self-isolate please do so.

Good News!!

Les Mills are offering free home workouts for our members, click here for more information.

The Trust Management Team are continuing to monitor this fast changing situation and making the best decisions to support both our hard working teams and very loyal customers.

Thank you all for your continued support during these very difficult times.

UPDATE 18/03/20, 10.30AM

The Trust Management Team have met this morning to discuss the changing situation.

We can confirm it is business as usual, all centres activities and swim school is operating as normal.

Measures are being continued to maintain high standards of cleanliness in the centres. We would ask that all our customers also support this by cleaning down all equipment after use. Sanitiser sprays have been provided to assist this.

All terms and conditions of membership and swim school still apply.

You can suspend your membership by clicking here

We are encouraging swim school parents to space out when spectating swimming lessons, and if possible wait in areas with more space such as reception areas.

Many customers rely on our service and we are doing everything we can to stay safe and stay open. We are closely monitoring class numbers and making changes to the programme daily. We would ask that if you are showing any symptoms of illness please stay away from our centres and follow the government guidance.

Many thanks for your patience.

UPDATED STATEMENT: 19/03/20

We are open for business as usual.

Facilities and activities including swim school, classes and gyms remain open.

However we would like to draw your attention to a few new decisions:

Firstly there will be NO DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENTS for Swim School and Memberships for April 2020

There is no need to suspend or cancel your memberships or swim school programmes if you wish to return when this situation changes. No payments will leave your banks, and you are able to continue to access these activities should you wish to do so.

We are working closely with Sandwell MBC to keep our facilities open whilst being able to protect our staff and customers.

More measures added:

We have ensured all our staff who fall into an 'at risk' group are not in work during this period of social distancing
Selected pieces of equipment within ours gyms and indoor cycling studios have been put out of use to aid with the distance between people working out
Fitness class sizes have been reduced to allow for more space in the studios

We know that many customers want us to remain open for as long as possible, which we are working hard to do so.

However, we can not do this without the support of our customers. With this in mind we ask that you:

If you are showing any signs of illness please do not attend our centres and follow the government guidelines
Continue to practise high levels of hygiene
Wash your hands / sanitise your hands upon entering our centres
Wipe down all equipment used, using our disinfectant sprays we have provided
Respect the class numbers must be reduced to allow for safe distancing levels. This not only protects your fellow customers but also our fantastic team of instructors who are working to provide your workout for you
Please be patient with our staff. The membership team are working tirelessly with the increased enquiries and requests which are coming in. As are staff teams within both front of house at the centres and in the back offices. We are working hard to maintain as close to a 'normal' service as possible given the current climate.

We thank you for your on going loyalty during what is an unprecedented difficult time for many businesses and their staff.

UPDATED STATEMENT: 20/03/2020

Today, Trust Management have made the decision to close Hadley Stadium with immediate effect to support other nearby SLT facilities. Any centre hirer's should email Hadleystadiuminfo@slt-leisure.co.uk for the latest information and how to be potentially relocated.

All other centres and activities are open as normal, with all the of previously mentioned measures in place to maintain a safe place for our staff to work and customers to access activities should they wish to do so.

More information can be found in the updates below.

We are updating this news feed as soon as any decisions are made and any changes to our business as a result of Covid-19.

A sincere thank you to our committed staff who are working tirelessly to help us remain open and to our loyal customers who are taking the advice and guidance seriously and bearing with us during these difficult circumstances.

UPDATE: 23/03/20, 10.45am

On Friday 20th March, the Government made the decision to close all Leisure Centres.

In response, we can confirm, all Sandwell Leisure Trust-run Leisure Centres are now CLOSED until further notice.

This includes:

Haden Hill Leisure Centre

Portway Lifestyle Centre

Smethwick Swimming Centre

Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre

Hadley Stadium

Langley Swimming Centre

Tipton Sports Academy

Tipton Lesiure Centre

Wednesbury Leisure Centre

Ryland Centre

Brandhall Golf Course

This means all swim school, bookings and clubs are no longer available, and gym and fitness classes are not open to any members of the public.

We will not take any payments for Swim School or Memberships during April, there is no need to cancel your direct debit - the team will make all the necessary arrangements.

As you can appreciate, this is a very difficult time for everyone and your patience during these coming days and weeks is much appreciated.

Protecting our staff and our business is a priority.

Please continue to follow our news and social media channels for all the latest information.

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