Leisure centres introduce quiet hour scheme

Shrewsbury Sports Village is one of six centres to have the quiet hour in place

A group of leisure centres has brought in a programme of quieter hours with they aim, they say, of making them more accessible to people with sensory processing issues.

Shropshire Community Leisure Trust said at these times, music would be turned off in gyms and around pools, bright lights dimmed or switched off and there would only be tannoy announcements in an emergency.

The quiet hours will be across six sites - Shrewsbury Sports Village, the Quarry, Oswestry Leisure Centre, Market Drayton Swimming and Fitness Centre, Whitchurch Swimming and Fitness Centre and SpArC Bishops Castle.

Rhys Collins, from the trust, said the move would make its sites a "truly inclusive environment."

"While these quieter, more relaxed sessions are open to all customers, this small timetable change at our facilities could make a huge difference to the lives of people with neurodiversity needs," he said.

This is not the first time venues in Shropshire have brought in quiet hours for customers.

Earlier this year, Telford's Blists Hill Victorian Town introduced a quiet room - created for people with special educational needs and disabilities or health conditions and also for parents who needed to breastfeed or bottle-feed children in a quiet place.

Elsewhere, Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery hosts "The Quiet Hour" on the last Sunday of each month - while the Telford Centre has two quieter shopping times during the week.