When Wigan's leisure centres will be reopening and what to expect

Robin Park Leisure Centre and Howe Bridge Leisure Centre will be first out of the blocks, with gyms available to use and classes starting up on Saturday July 25.

The Wigan Life Centre along with leisure centres in Standish, Leigh and Ashton and the borough's swimming pools will then welcome customers back on August 1.

And the following week, on August 8, Hindley Leisure Centre will reopen.

Pools will open with lane swimming, family swim sessions and aqua-aerobics with the Learn to Swim programme starting again in September.

Racket sports will also be available at Robin Park, Leigh and Hindley leisure centres.

Plans are in place to ensure the safety of all customers and staff but this does mean visiting the leisure facilities will be a somewhat different experience.

Direction signs have been placed around each site, kit has been spread out in the gyms and class sizes are smaller. Contactless systems are being put in place for entering the facilities and all payments will be cashless.

A new booking system has been put in place for gyms, swimming, racket sports and classes as reserving a time slot is now necessary to ensure a limited number of people in each building at once.

Pete Burt, managing director of Inspiring healthy lifestyles, said: “We are looking forward to opening our leisure centres again and to welcome people back to our gyms, pools and classes.

“The safety of our staff and members is our number one priority and we have worked hard to put full health and hygiene measures in place. We know people are keen to get back onto exercise and we thank everyone for their cooperation and patience as we open in a way that is safe for everyone.”

Professor Kate Ardern, director of public health at Wigan Council, said: “The decision to begin the process of reopening our leisure centres was taken following extensive conversations with our colleagues at Inspiring healthy lifestyles and consideration of government guidance.

“Risk assessments have been completed and we are pleased with how the centres have been adapted to ensure they are Covid-19 compliant.

“We ask those using our leisure centres to be respectful of others and to keep their distance, while also regularly washing or sanitising their hands.”

Coun Jim Moodie, lead member for leisure at Wigan Council, said: “The reopening of our leisure centres is a significant step forward towards some kind of normality, but remaining vigilant is key to ensuring we are able to minimise spread of the virus.

“We thank the public for their patience during this time and for their enthusiasm over recent weeks to use parks and open space as a way to exercise safely.”

However, the new measures do mean that the gym at Hindley cannot open at the moment.

Following a review, Inspiring healthy lifestyles decide its size and the small changing areas means it is simply not big enough to allow social distancing to take place.

Gym members at Hindley are being asked to go to any of the other leisure centres in the borough until further restrictions are lifted.