Buckinghamshire leisure centres reopening under new coronavirus restrictions
Aqua Vale and Swan Pool signed a petition to keep leisure centres open in October
Leisure centres and gyms across Buckinghamshire are reopening today.
Aqua Vale in Aylesbury and Swan Pool in Buckingham were two local leisure centres that joined a national campaign to stay open through heightened coronavirus restrictions.
The Government has confirmed all leisure centres across all tiers will be safe to reopen with strict operational measures in place.
Buckinghamshire is in Tier 2 - here is what that means.
Chris Williams, Everyone Active's Aylesbury contract manager, said:
"We're very much looking forward to reopening our centres and welcoming back the local community.
"After being closed for a month, this announcement from Government is the news the leisure industry has been eagerly awaiting.
"It is very important to give people the opportunity to resume activity and exercise in their leisure centre, particularly during the winter months, and this will go a long way to maintaining the good health of local communities.
"We would like to thank the 615,000 people across the country who signed the petition we supported to keep gyms open, which triggered a Parliamentary debate, and to acknowledge the impressive manner in which the leisure industry has pulled together."
However, local restrictions mean some activities are not available at some centres. Full information on how the tier system affects your local centre is available here.
Chris says if there is another national lockdown, hopefully leisure centres can stay open:
"The fact they are open even in tier 3 shows how essential they are to the customers as well as the staff. Not just for physical well being but also mental well being.
"So I hope in whatever future guidance they give out they take into consideration all the facts, the numbers that are coming from the leisure sector and how safe we have made the centres"