Leisure centres closure

Following the confirmation of national lockdown being introduced, Wiltshire Council’s leisure centres, and those operated by Places Leisure, will close from today (Tuesday 5 January).

All members at a Wiltshire Council leisure centre will have their membership automatically frozen, at no cost, until the centres are able to reopen. Direct debit members had their January payment processed today, 5 January, and due to the timing of the lockdown announcement, the council was unable to prevent this. The council will roll-over this payment to when the centres reopen, so customers will not lose this payment. Annual memberships will be extended by the duration of the lockdown.

All other leisure community activities will also temporarily cease during lockdown; including Active Health, Get Wiltshire Walking, Walking Sports, Ability Sports, Street Games and the Healthier Communities programmes.

Communities can still get access to a host of online activities including a range of group exercise classes, walking sports and This Girl Can sessions. These can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisure-online-classes. The Active Health programme will also be delivered online and participants will be contacted directly about this.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “We are very sorry that we are once again having to close our leisure centres, but it is critical that we do everything we can to keep our residents safe.

“By all following the government guidelines, we will hopefully be able to reopen our centres as soon as possible. In the meantime, there are some great ideas on ways to help keep physically and mentally active from home, so please do take a look at our active communities webpage for some inspiration.”

If people have any queries or enquiries, they can contact leisure services directly via email at leisureadmin@wiltshire.gov.uk.