Leisure centre use hits 'impressive' mark in Gedling borough

Arnold Leisure Centre is one of five council-run sites in Gedling

The number of people using council-run leisure centres in part of Nottinghamshire is said to have surpassed pre-Covid levels.

Attendance at Gedling's Arnold, Redhill, Carlton Forum, Calverton and Richard Herrod centres dropped from 1,131,828 people in 2019/20 to 148,579 in 2020/21.

This is the number of individual people visiting the centres over a full year.

The borough council has now said that visitor numbers have increased.

It said attendance to the borough's five centres in 2023/24 was 1,153,000 and that income across the sites had been £1,356,000, about £72,000 above its target figure.

Extra funding

Henry Wheeler, portfolio holder for lifestyles, health and wellbeing at Gedling Borough Council, revealed the figures at a meeting of the authority's overview and scrutiny committee on Monday, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said: "Attendance across the five leisure centres has grown steadily over the last few years.

"The target for 2023/24 was quite impressive actually and we surpassed it by 93,000.

"Annual attendance is now higher than the pre-Covid levels by 21,200, which is very good news."

Membership to the Swim School had risen 45% compared to before the pandemic, he added.

The authority said Swim England provided £147,525 to help support rising energy costs at leisure centres with pools.

Mr Wheeler also highlighted upgrades to Calverton Leisure Centre, including pool-side audio upgrade and mood lighting, which had made the facility more accessible for people living with disabilities.

"It is a very inclusive development there," he said.