Community / SRT Scalloway swimming lessons to move to Clickimin
SWIMMING lessons run by Shetland Recreational Trust (SRT) which take currently place at Scalloway pool will move to the Clickimin Leisure Complex in Lerwick, it has been confirmed.
It comes as preparations are made for when the pool closes its doors on 31 March.
In an email to customers, Scalloway manager Richie Gardner said the staff at the pool will move to the Clickimin at the start of April.
He said that although staff are moving to the Clickimin, the “Scalloway team is very still much together and motivated to deliver everything we did previously, and more”.
Gardner said it had been a difficult time over the last two months, but as reported this week, the closure is now “inevitable”.
He said it has been an “absolute pleasure” being part of the team at Scalloway.
The Scalloway staff will join an existing instructor to create a new aquatics instructor team for the Learn To Swim programme at the Clickimin.
He said all of Scalloway’s current pupils’ requirements will be catered for at the Lerwick leisure centre, with a variety of class levels set to be available weekly between 3.30pm and 5.15pm.
All pre-school lessons will take place earlier in the day, while ‘aquacise’ exercise classes will be available outwith the normal 9am to 5pm working hours.
A new dedicated ASN class will be available on Friday afternoons where a “relaxing atmosphere” will be created, with the pool closed to the general public and additional instructors on hand to with work individuals as necessary, while parents will be invited to enter the pool if they wish.
Gardner said on certain days the main Clickimin pool will be completely closed to the public to allow staff to deliver the Learn to Swim programme, with several classes happening at once in a similar set-up to what takes place currently at Scalloway.
The viewing gallery will be restricted to allow parents and carers to observe.
Staff are also working on a solution to allow existing pupils at Scalloway to have first choice of the lessons on offer before these are offered to the wider public, with the term due to start later in April to allow staff time to settle into the Clickimin.
There are no public details yet on what will happen to school PE lessons which take place at Scalloway.
Meanwhile the SRT has released updated prices for its network of leisure centres next financial year.
The charity said on social media that while “increasing prices isn’t something we enjoy doing, it is essential due to the continued rise in costs associated to operating our facilities”.
It said that for regular users and family/household groups, the “most cost-effective option is our rolling MORE4life monthly membership, which offers excellent value for money”.
The SRT announced in January it planned to close one of its facilities – which ended up being Scalloway – to ensure the charity was sustainable.
While services at Scalloway will stop after 31 March, the SRT said it will retain ownership of the building for a longer period of time to “give the community further opportunity to suggest alternatives and allow the possibility of reopening should a sustainable long-term solution be identified”.
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