People exercising at pre-pandemic levels

At least in Mid Devon leisure centres

People in Mid Devon are exercising nearly as much as they were before the pandemic, at least in council leisure centres.

In what the district council claims is a strong start to 2023, adult memberships are now back to 92 per cent of pre-covid levels, when leisure centres and swimming pools closed their doors as the country went into a series of lockdowns.

The council’s finance chief Andrew Jarrett recently told a cabinet meeting that the service has just had one of its “best direct debit collection months since pre-covid,” following a post-Christmas marketing campaign.

Lee Chester, Mid Devon’s operations manager for leisure services, says recovery in memberships has improved by 15 per cent since December, while junior memberships are now 11 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.

This “demonstrates the commitment of parents to the importance of their children having the vital life skill of being able to swim,” he said in a statement.

Last week, councillors voted to save two paddling pools in Tiverton and Crediton that had been earmarked for ‘mothballing’ after a backlash from local residents, with one public speaker at a council meeting describing the cost of regular swimming at the town’s Exe Valley Leisure Centre as “too expensive.”

Jo Carpenter, founder of Active Parents Devon, said the waiting list for swimming lessons is 18 months, describing it as “appalling” for her seven-year-old son.

Mr Chester acknowledged both returning and new customers are being impacted by higher energy prices and tightening purse strings as a result of the “huge cost of living increases”.

He also said the increase in junior memberships “does create challenges of congestion in the programme and longer waiting lists, and recovery from the national shortage of swimming teachers has also proved a challenge in delivering the highest quality learn to swim programme.

“Mid Devon Leisure is rolling out courses for professional qualifications such as swimming teachers, pool lifeguards, first aid at work and health and safety in the work place to businesses and the general public in order to lessen the skills gap in the industry,” he said.

Separately, the council says multi-million pound decarbonisation works at its Exe Valley and Lords Meadow leisure centres in Tiverton and Crediton are “progressing well” and nearing completion.

The £2.8 million project, funded by a government public sector decarbonisation programme, includes installing ground and air source heat pumps, LED floodlights and solar panels.