Leisure centre reopens today

As Godalming Leisure Centre reopens today, here's what to expect when you get there.

The gym, studio classes and swimming pool, for lane swimming only, all reopen today.

Swimming lessons will restart from 7th September onwards: parents will be contacted prior to lessons restarting.

The most important thing to remember at the start is that all sessions must be booked: you can't just turn up if you fancy a swim. This is to enable Places Leisure staff to control the number of people on site.

To do that you need to go online to the Places Leisure website here.

Visitors are being asked to turn up a maximum of 15 minutes before their session starts.

There will be plastic screens set up at reception kiosks to protect visitors and staff, plus markers on the floor and a one-way route to follow. Sanitising spray and wipes will be provided around the centre for use on equipment and lockers.

A 15 to 30-minute changeover period has been factored in between each session to allow visitors to leave safely and for staff to clean the facilities. Gym sessions will last 60 minutes and swim sessions will last 45 minutes.

Places Leisure is a social enterprise that works with local authorities to provide sport and leisure activities in centres across the country. In Waverley its reopening date was delayed while the organisation worked with Waverley Borough Council to negotiate a financial package that would it enable it to reopen after nearly five months of lockdown.

In a statement, the organisation said: "Covid-19 has had an enormous impact upon public sector leisure which has placed significant risk to services across the country. We, and all other leisure management organisations, have been working hard with our local authority partners to find a viable way in which services can be delivered.

"Along with other organisations in the sector, we have been working with Sport England and ukactive, in raising the profile of the value of public leisure services since the beginning of the lockdown. This has culminated in serious lobbying of the government and we understand that ministers are now appreciating the severity of the situation.

"We sincerely hope that this may lead to the creation of a ring-fenced support scheme in the coming days or weeks, enabling us to open all our centres."