Date issued: 3 September 2020
Leisure World Tiptree will gradually reopen from Saturday 5 September, following the easing of lockdown measures. Customers will benefit from a new gym and improved facilities, after a successful Sport England Small Grant and Section 106 bid of £59,000 and £20,000 funding from Thurstable School.
Leisure World Tiptree staff have been busy preparing the centre to ensure it is coronavirus safe, including adding signage, a one-way system, a new cleaning regime and hand sanitiser stations across site.
Additionally, only a limited number of customers will be able to attend the centre at any one time, to allow for social distancing. Customers will need to book all activities online before visiting the centre. Bookings for the gym and climbing wall can be made from Saturday 5 September. Other activities, such as badminton, will be bookable online at a later date.
Whilst closed, Leisure World Tiptree, which shares its gym with Thurstable School, contracted TechnoGym to install a new £54,000 gym suite for the centre. In addition, around £25,000 was spent to improve existing facilities at the centre. The £49,000 from Section 106 funding, £10,000 from Sport England and £20,000 from Thurstable School was awarded to allow both the school and Leisure World Tiptree to offer a wider range of services.
The equipment purchased for the gym followed consultation with local sport centre users, a physical education team and local authority partners, to determine what core equipment was needed to help address health and inequality issues in the local area.
Cllr Theresa Higgins, Portfolio Holder for Commercial Services, said: “Leisure World Tiptree is important for the health and wellbeing of many residents. I know the re-opening of the centre will be a relief for existing members and exciting for new customers.
“The new gym is a fantastic addition to Leisure World Tiptree’s already-excellent facilities. It will enable personal trainers to work with new classes, special programmes to be set up for people with health issues, and even capacity for a physio to be based on-site.”
Alastair Woodcock, Director of Sport at Thurstable School, added: “Thurstable School recognises the important of both physical and mental wellbeing. The new facilities will have a wide-ranging positive impact on the whole school community. We are really looking forward to using these in the new academic year to support the development and fitness levels of all pupils’ and elite performers.”
Leisure World centres closed on the 19 March 2020, following Government advice. Since then, Leisure World Colchester has reopened following the easing of lockdown measures for the leisure industry. Leisure World Highwoods will reopen from Saturday 5 September.
For more information about Leisure World’s response to coronavirus and to book an appointment visit colchesterleisureworld.co.uk.
Page last reviewed: 3 September 2020