Positive Changes at Tadley Health & Fitness Centre
There are a lot of changes happening at the centre, so we wanted to provide a guide which addresses many of the questions coming in from customers regarding things like swimming lessons, changes to the timetable and maintenance issues.
We hope this summary guide reassures you about the future of aquatics at your centre.
Background
In 2022, we undertook a major review of how Tadley Health & Fitness Centre is operated, with a focus on our swimming programme and overall maintenance at the facility.
The findings of the review demonstrated that in order to cater for more swimmers and offer more types of swimming session, we would need to amend our timetable. This new timetable, developed in conjunction with aquatics industry experts, will allow for a greater range of sessions than we have previously been able to offer at Tadley’s pool.
The review also highlighted various maintenance issues we needed to address.
To make it easier for you to find the information you’re interested in, we’ve broken this guide down into mini sections, kicking off with a summary of the schedule for all the positive changes taking place at the centre.
A three-phase schedule
Phase 1 of the new timetable began on March 13th, and you’ll have already seen some of the new sessions listed on our website.
Phase 2 will begin in June. The main change in this phase will be the adding of further leisure swim sessions.
Phase 3 is scheduled to begin in September. This will see us extending our opening hours and adding more baby and toddler sessions to the timetable.
Extra sessions in the new timetable
As you can see from the schedule summary, once our new timetable is fully implemented, there’s going to be an exciting range of additional sessions in the pool compared to our previous swimming programme. These include four and a half extra hours for babies/toddlers, seven extra hours of family fun sessions and four extra hours for lane swimming.
We have also increased the amount of time we are able to offer the pool to disability groups and children with special educational needs, while the new programme allows us to really open up our school swimming lesson timetable.
In 2023, we expect to be teaching hundreds more children and adults at Tadley Health & Fitness Centre than we have ever been able to previously.
1-to-1s and 20-minute sessions
1-to-1 sessions are still available, if requested. Within the new timetable, the amount of time allocated for 1-to-1 sessions offer will not be changing.
Also, we will not be removing 20-minute sessions for those learners currently signed up for that time period, and parents can still request a particular teacher for lessons.
In line with Swim England recommendations, we will continue to promote 30-minute sessions. However, to cater for individual customer needs, we will also offer 20-minute lessons, if requested.
Leisure swim sessions
Via customer feedback, we are hearing that customers would like more leisure swim options. Additional lifeguards are currently being recruited, which will enable us to offer these sessions.
We currently offer three leisure swim slots across the weekend. Once we have recruited further lifeguards, this will be expanded to include a number of sessions during the week.
However, acting on the feedback already received, we recently introduced a temporary leisure swim timetable, which takes place Monday to Friday, 6am – 9.30am. During these times, we will adapt the swimming area and lane width to allow customers to walk in the pool, if that is their preferred option.
Recruitment of additional swimming teachers
A swim teacher training course is scheduled to run at Tadley via Serco’s Approved Training Centre in April, which is part of an ongoing process to ensure we are able to offer a full range of teaching sessions, while providing employment opportunities for the local community.
The training course will take place the week beginning April 17th. If people are interested in signing up, please email Deputy Contract Manager, Becca McLean – becca.mclean@serco.com
Booking via the More Fitness app
We are also listening to feedback regarding how customers use the More Fitness app to book sessions and will be looking to amend the app so that booking slots better reflect customer requirements.
Although we will always stress to customers that the app is the best way to book sessions, it’s also possible to book at the centre or by just turning up and doing so in person.
Maintenance of the centre
In relation to the overall maintenance at the centre, we have identified a number of key areas where we need to improve. In 2023, we have increased the amount of cleaning hours performed by 25 hours per week, while many parts of the centre are and have been redecorated and refurbished, including our reception area, sauna and gym.
Pool temperatures
Pool temperature is monitored on a daily basis via a calibrated system.
The set temperature for the pool is 30 degrees centigrade. This was chosen following a trial period where we operated at 29 degrees. However, due to a number of complaints from customers telling us the water was too cold, we amended the setting.
The issue we had with fluctuating pool temperatures rising above the set point has been resolved. However, it is important to note that pool temperatures cannot be amended quickly. Therefore, the temperature selected for a pool activity will always be the best compromise position.