GL1 leisure centre: 'It's amazing to be back where I belong'

Simone Douglas was among 150 staff to lose their jobs when Aspire went into liquidation

A woman who lost her job when a leisure centre closed suddenly has said she is happy to be back after its reopening.

Duty manager Simone Douglas was among 150 staff made redundant when GL1 leisure centre shut in September 2023.

It has since reopened under an interim operator and Ms Douglas said it felt "phenomenal" to return to her role.

"I just cannot put into words how amazing it felt to be back where I belong so quickly," she added.

GL1 closed when Aspire, the charitable trust which ran the leisure centre, went into liquidation.

It reopened in December under the management of Freedom Leisure, which will run the business until Gloucester City Council appoints a long-term operator.

Freedom Leisure regional manager Lee Thomas said the closure had a big impact on the community

Former employees like Ms Douglas were invited to reapply for their jobs when Freedom Leisure was preparing to reopen the facility and she was among almost 80 ex-Aspire workers to be recruited.

She said she is happy to be back but that being made redundant had a big impact on her.

"I've come back now, happy and fresh. It's nice to see Gloucester is coming back together," added Ms Douglas.

Not-for-profit charitable trust Freedom Leisure runs 100 venues across the UK.

Regional manager Lee Thomas said the closure had a profound impact on staff and the community but clients had come back to the centre quickly.

"There's clearly a need for facilities like this to be open," he said.

"When it's the heart of a community, many people have social connections and emotional attachments to the site and being back open allows them to continue them, which you can't get everywhere."

John Myatt and Jeni Gardner have used GL1 for many years and said they returned as soon as they could when it reopened

City councillor Andy Lewis said he was pleased with the new arrangement and more investment is planned.

He said Aspire had been left "on a very sticky wicket" because of the pandemic and even funding from the council proved not to be enough.

"We have plans to invest more money and it will be an even better place than it already is," he added.