Wiltshire's leisure centres to reopen next week

Wiltshire Council has confirmed that all 20 leisure centres in the county will reopen on Monday 12 April, following government confirmation to proceed with Step 2 of the roadmap out of lockdown.

All 10 of the council managed leisure centres will reopen with gym, swimming and some racket sport court hire where available. Indoor group exercise classes are not permitted to resume until 17 May at the earliest, so most leisure centres will instead be offering some outdoor group exercise class programmes, with limited numbers. The council's online class programme will continue until the end of May, for more information people can visit our  webpage.

The 10 leisure centres run by Places Leisure on the council's behalf will also reopen with bookings for gym and swim available online on the Places Leisure website. For information about Places Leisure managed services, people should visit Places Leisure (opens new window).

The health and safety of visitors and the centre staff will remain a priority. The measures introduced after reopening in August 2020 will still be in place, including social distancing and increased hygiene measures. Customers must also continue to book online in advance, to help manage the number of people at each centre at any given time. Online booking for council-run centres is now available for members and will be available for non-members from 10 April.

Jessica Gibbons, Wiltshire Council Director for Communities and Neighbourhood Services, said: We are delighted to be able to reopen our leisure centres, and know how important these facilities are to our communities and the support they help provide for people's physical and mental wellbeing.

We are particularly pleased that Trowbridge Sports Centre will be able to reopen on 12 April, following it's refurbishments, and after the January national lockdown unfortunately put a temporary halt to our previous reopening plans for the centre. We thank people for their patience during these works.

Our teams are working hard to prepare for reopening, and all of our centres are taking all necessary precautions to ensure they reopen in the safest way possible.

We are really looking forward to welcoming people back next week and, as government guidance allows, being able to enjoy a much greater range of activities once again.

The opening hours for council-run centres from 12 April are available on the council's COVID-19 reopening webpage, along with other details around what services are available, how to book and membership guidance for members.

Swimming lessons for children will also resume on 12 April. However, lessons that were not planned to resume in January will not return immediately in April. The leisure teams are making plans to enable these lessons to return as soon as possible.

Gymnastics lessons will resume at Five Rivers and start at Springfield, during the week beginning Monday 12 April, and start at Marlborough from the week beginning Monday 19 April. Lessons at Tidworth are unable to start at the moment due to the unavailability of the sports hall.

Active Health services will resume at leisure centres from 12 April except Active Health classes, which will remain online until at least 17 May.

Sports development outdoor activities including Healthier Communities, StreetGames and Walking Sports are scheduled to return from 12 April with appropriate social distancing measures in place. Existing participants will be contacted regarding their session in due course. The Get Wiltshire Walking project will resume from Tuesday 4 May.

The council would usually review prices for activities and memberships in April, but when the centres reopen, all prices will remain the same as they were in January.

For information about Places Leisure managed services, people should visit Places Leisure (opens new window).