Bosses work to sustain long-term future for Fife’s sport and leisure trust

More than half a million people have used the region’s facilities since lockdown.

The first quarter of 2022 showed a recovery rate of 82% - up from 47% for the same period in 2021.

Overall attendance for the period was 551,079, with Pitreavie Athletics Centre, Levenmouth Swimming Pool and Sports Centre and Waterstone Crook Leisure Centre showing the strongest recovery rates.

Emma Walker, chief executive, said: “The trust is very much in recovery phase not just from the pandemic but the ongoing challenges of funding to adequately deliver on our charitable commitment to making a difference to local communities.

“Like many sports trusts around the country, we experienced significant operational difficulties due to the pandemic by way of periods of lockdown, restricted access and implementation of Covid health and safety protocols.”She highlighted staff shortages as the latest issue to hit the trust.

It is in need of more lifeguards to oversee its swimming pools and is offering free training to attain the necessary qualifications.

She added: “Our staff are working hard to mitigate against these challenges, but we are very much working through our recovery and still have much to do to ensure the long-term sustainability of the trust.

“We continue to work with our partner Fife Council and are passionate about making the case for community sports facilities for the benefit of local communities in order to offer affordable access to sports and leisure opportunities.”

The trust reported 268,071 of the overall attendances were to wetside facilities a 90% recovery rate and dryside facilities saw 222,976, a 74% recovery rate while outdoor facilities recovered 60,041 attendances, an 86% recovery.

read more:

In terms of key target customer groups, there were 269,547 attendances for under-18s, a recovery rate of 117%, 18–60-year-olds saw 233,496 attendancse (of 59% and over-60s had 48,036, a recovery of 114%

A template has been used to measure how the trust is recovering from the impact of pandemic and associated lockdowns and restrictions to its business.