Lifestyle Leisure Centres are opening for children’s activities and disability sessions

Liverpool’s Lifestyle Leisure Centres will re-open for children’s sporting activities and swimming lessons and sessions from today.

The centres are also exploring the options to provide activities and sessions for people with disabilities.

Earlier this week, the Lifestyles’ team announced that the four gyms across the city would have to close in-line with new government restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Liverpool Aquatics Centre, Garston, Alsop Leisure Centre in Walton and Ellergreen, along with shared facilities at Cardinal Heenan School, had been gradually re-opened since August.

Now, with Liverpool being classed as tier three, very high-level alert, the centres have been forced to closed.

Council officers have been examining the exemptions to the gyms closures along with colleagues from Public Health. Now, with agreement from Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson and Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Events, Cllr Wendy Simon, the four leisure centres will re-open for children’s activities from Friday 16 October.

The sessions will include children’s sports and fitness sessions along with swimming lessons and coaching.

It also includes gymnastics and outdoor sports at sites such as Liverpool Tennis Centre and Park Road.

Certain facilities will also be available to the city’s ‘elite’ athletes and sportspeople.

Grassroots football sessions for juniors will continue but without spectators and only adult per child allowed.

The leisure centres will remain closed for adult activities until further notice and all memberships will be frozen throughout November.

Find out what Liverpool family-run @villagetaxis1 are doing to try and keep the business going as lockdown restrictions tighten 🚕

👉 https://t.co/2G94RMhfrC pic.twitter.com/uH4Lg44eDO

— The Guide Liverpool 🌇 (@TheGuideLpool) October 15, 2020

Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Events, Cllr Wendy Simon, said:

“We were devastated when we were forced to close our leisure centres, particularly considering all the hard work done by the team to make our venues Covid-safe.

“We know it has been disappointing for our thousands of loyal members, who have given us their support since the pandemic began.

“We have examined the new regulations and we can now re-open to the centres to continue to provide children’s activities.

“We recognise how important the need for sport and exercise is to our children, young people and other members of the community both for physical and mental health and well-being. We believe that we have taken the necessary precautions to provide a safe environment for these activities, however, we will continue to monitor the situation in the weeks ahead and we will be looking to re-open our centres for everyone as soon as we can.“

Members are urged to continue to visit the Lifestyles webpage here.