Fifers flock back to sports and leisure centres after lockdown

Fife Sport and Leisure Trust has revealed an an overall recovery rate of 63 per cent between July and September compared to the same period for 2020.

The charitable trust saw all its premises shut during lockdown before restrictions finally eased in August.

That marked the return of all 14 venues, including the Becon in Burntisand which faced major challenges to comply with COVID regulations.

The recovery rate was an increase of 24 per cent from quarter one with the month of September showing an overall recovery rate of 74 per cent with individual sites such as Levenmouth

Swimming Pool and Sports Centre, Pitreavie Athletics Centre and Waterstone Crook Leisure Centre performing best.

Group fitness classes saw a recovery rate of 41 per cent with a steady increase over the three-month period with the transition back to studios in all venues and an increase in class capacity following the removal of physical distancing.

Gym rates were up 57 per cent with all equipment reinstalled, and with some venues seeing new layouts following customer feedback.

The trust is also looking to expand its personal training provision with the addition of four new gym team members.

Its award-winning health programme ,which delivers instructor-led fitness classes to local people living with long-term health conditions, saw a 56 per cent recovery rate thanks to return to face-to-face sessions.

Emma Walker, chief executive, welcomed the figures.

She said: “ The teams have worked hard to encourage users back into centres, and thanks to a consistently high level of health and safety measures throughout the pandemic, customer confidence and satisfaction rates have remained high.

“We are committed to providing communities with quality, affordable sports and leisure facilities and teams across the trust are set to deliver further improvements to our facilities and programmes for a wide range of users in line with our charitable commitments – these include social cafes, working with paediatric physiotherapy services to support health child weight programmes and widening awareness and access to our referral health programme.”

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