March 2021 News

Dear Member,

First and foremost, we are delighted to have in place a schedule to follow for when we are hopefully able to come out of this last lockdown.  We are looking forward to welcoming you all back to the Club. You will be aware that there is a staggered approach to coming out of this lockdown which includes a three phased approach for leisure between the period 29th March through to 17th May.

The past few weeks have been akin to a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle! During this time, we have found the corners, the edges and are now gradually filling in the more exciting middle. The College have now returned for the period 8th – 26th March, they then break for Easter before returning to lessons from Tuesday 20th April. During this current three-week window they will be using the facilities in the same manner as they did during the Tier 3 closure in November.

Our planned re-opening schedule is as outlined below:

• Stage 1 – 29th March – 11th April. Outdoor sports can commence which for us means tennis and organised team sports activities for adults and juniors.
• Club opening hours for 29th March – 1st April & 6th – 9th April will be 09:00 – 13:00 & 18:00 – 21:00. For the weekend 10th & 11th April the opening hours will be 09:00 – 18:00
•  Easter weekend 2nd – 5th April – Club opening hours 09:00 – 13:00
• Telephone bookings only for Tennis as from Monday 22nd March. Reception will be open between the hours of 08.30 – 13:00 to take your calls.
• Tennis Court fees – No charge
• Club Tennis Sessions – Commence from Tuesday 6th April.
• Fives – No takeaway service or outdoor hospitality until 12th April at the earliest.
• Online Classes – These classes will continue. – No charge.
• Small GX Outdoor Classes will take place from 29th March – 2nd April and 5th to 9th April. We are offering Spinning and Body Conditioning classes for a maximum of 5 participants plus the instructor (Nikki, Mark, Ellie, Eileen, Lana, and Ingrida.) These classes will be held in the car park area outside the Main Hall as we did during the summer. Please phone Reception to book a place. Please wear suitable footwear and clothing for the English weather. The timetable will be on the Club App and website next week. Reception. – No charge

The following three Stages are subject to Government confirmation.

• Stage 2 – 12th April – 16th May. – Confirmation of this date will be provided on the 5th April.
• Gym and swimming pool can open.  At present no guidance has been issued from our various governing bodies. We will assume at this point though that we will remain with bookable slots for both activities.
• Places for the gym, and pool can be booked once confirmation has been announced, so if this is the case as we hope then bookings will go live  on the App and the website  from 10pm on the 5th April for the following week and from reception at 06.30 on the 6th.
• Tennis courts bookings also go live on the App from this date.
• Opening Hours will be change to Monday – Friday 06:30 – 22:00 & Weekends 08:00 – 20:00
• We will not be able to offer outdoor GX classes from this point due to a reduction in available staffing resources.
• No adult indoor sports / activities permitted.
• Fives – Available for takeaway hot drinks and table service outside. Open from 07:30 – 14:00
• Online Classes. We will be introducing a new online system called TeamUp – Please see separate section for details.

Memberships – Please see separate section.

• Stage 3 – 17th May – 20th June – Confirmation of this date will be provided on 10th May.
• Group Exercise classes can restart indoors. No guidance has yet been provided, but as before at this point, we will assume some levels placed on capacities.
• Indoor sports and activities can commence. – No guidance provided yet on capacities etc. on the various sports.

Places and courts can be booked once confirmation has been announced. If this is the case, our bookings will go live on the App and the website from 10pm on the 10th May for the following week and from reception at 0630 on the 11th.

• Fives – Table service indoors and outside.

• Real Tennis Court – Reopens for its members.
• Stage 4 – 21st June onwards – Restrictions potentially lifted.

TeamUp Online Classes

To improve our online offering, we are introducing TeamUp. This is a new piece of software designed to make booking and attending online group exercise classes that much easier. With TeamUp you will be able to browse and book classes directly from the website using a sign in system. There is an easy signing in process that will just take a few minutes to complete to register as user.

After booking onto a class TeamUp will send you a Zoom attendance link via e-mail as well as a reminder when you get closer to the classes start time meaning you won’t have to search for meeting ID’s and passwords before each class.

We fully expect TeamUp will ease some of the frustrations that come with working out online and make it easier for members to enjoy the classes they love from the comfort of their home.

Online classes will be free to members. If members wish to participate whilst choosing to keep their membership suspended, after the 6th April then the class fee will be £3.50 which is payable online.

If you have any queries then please email gym@wellingtonfitness.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

Memberships Subject To Guidelines As Currently Published.

• Monthly
  • These will remain suspended until 5th April.
  • The first monthly Direct Debit payment will be on 6th April and then as before on the 6th of each month or the nearest working day.
  • April’s fee will be discounted by 75%
  • May discounted by 50%
  • June discounted by 20%
  • July – Full monthly fees will resume.
• Annuals
  • The closure dates plus two additional months will be added to your renewal date.
• Option to Freeze
  • This option will remain in place until 30th June for £10 per month.
  • After this date, the membership will be reactivated in line with going to full fees from July.
  • We will review any cases on their individual merits based on medical grounds.

Some Goodbyes, Changes and Hello’s

Goodbye to Tanya Hall who has worked on Reception at the Club for 10 years. To Chris Clarkson on the 17th March who worked in the gym and delivered great classes. Chris has secured a new job outside of leisure, and lastly to Jack Holden who worked as our part time Duty Manager, and for many years overseen many of the technical IT tasks over the past six years.  After obtaining his degree and Masters, Jack has obtained a position with the Vanguard Group. We wish them all well for the future and thank them for their contributions to the Club.

Ellie Goswell is stepping down from her role as a Fitness Instructor in early April. We are delighted to say she will remain with us as our Group Exercise Studio Coordinator and Group Exercise Instructor.

We welcome Lana Dragicevic to the gym team who will be working 20 hours per week in the gym, plus offering PT and teaching classes. Lana comes with a wealth of experience and we look forward to the contribution she will make.

We are currently recruiting to fill the various vacancies that have very recently become available.

We appreciate that there is a significant amount of information in here, and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have, by emailing  hello@wellingtonfitness.co.uk

We will update as and when further information becomes available.

Ian Davis

Commercial Manager.

Wellington Health & Fitness Club

10th March 2021.