Camden announces new partnership to help get residents more active
Camden Council has announced its new ten year leisure centre management contract with sports and leisure operator, Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) to drive its ambition to help more residents get active.
GLL will build an accessible and affordable leisure centre programme that offers a range of physical activities and sports for the whole community and provide the Council with £18.9m to be invested back into improving leisure centres across Camden and other resident services.
GLL will also be undertaking improvements to make the borough’s centres even more welcoming, family friendly, and better geared towards social activities.
This will include targeted activities, including an investment to encourage residents that are less likely to exercise for a range of reasons including support for those who face financial barriers, confidence issues, as well as new routes into physical activity for those living with mental health and long-term health conditions.
Further elements that add to the social value of the contract include:
- Up to 15 apprenticeships on offer each year for Camden residents
- A minimum of 50% of GLL employees working on the Camden contract will be Camden residents and be a demographically representative workforce including BAME, disabled and LGBTQ+ residents
- £350,000 a year allocated to support the delivery of a targeted programme of activities for inactive residents including; Muslim girls project, mental health inclusive projects, disability projects, LGBTQ+ inclusive projects and older adults projects. Support the development of 40 weekly physical activity sessions in areas of high inactivity
Our new contract focuses on opening up health and wellbeing opportunities for all residents, whether that’s in a gym or in their community. This follows comprehensive engagement with residents to find out what type of activities they wanted from their leisure centres.
We are committed to supporting as many residents as possible lead active and healthy lives and our leisure centres are key to this. By making sure there’s something for everyone, from good value gyms, a wide range of community based activities or great swimming pools, our residents are sure to find something to enjoy.
We also plan to identify and train more community based physical activity volunteers, including residents, who may like to become trained physical activity leaders, instructors and coaches.
Under the new contract, residents can take advantage of several deals including a range of discounted memberships and zero cost joining fees to Camden leisure centres. Weekly physical activity sessions will also be offered in the community to create new ‘on your door step’ offers.
Grants of up to £1500 will be available to support community organisations get started in physical activity and spaces at each leisure centre for community groups to hire at a discounted price.
GLL is proud to deliver the leisure centre service for the residents in Camden for a further 10 years.
Building on our existing successful partnership with Camden Council, we will be implementing new and innovative ways get Camden’s citizens more active, in particular those who traditionally do not participate in sport and physical activity.
Our charitable social enterprise business model will return significant social value to the borough through multiple new apprenticeships each year, free Pay and Play Memberships for Camden residents, and grants for community development projects and future sports stars.
First class sports facilities and innovative programming will be backed by our focus on first class customer service.
We look forward to getting more people, more active more often and greeting them with a warm welcome – and no joining fees for Camden residents until the end of March - at all the borough’s leisure centres.
Find out more information on Camden leisure centres and what’s on offer at better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/Camden