Staff and members at Gateshead Leisure Centre have revealed what the at-risk facility means to them and just how much their community relies on it.
The site is under threat of being shut down under council budget cuts, having been deemed one of the least financially sustainable publicly-run leisure services in the borough - alongside Dunston Leisure Centre and the sports hall in Birtley. Having been a part of life for people from areas like Bensham, Saltwell, and Low Fell since the 1930s, the prospect of losing it has become a deeply emotional issue for many.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service went inside Gateshead Leisure Centre to find out what the reaction to the closure plans has been. Ryan Lumsden, who works in the huge facility’s gym, has faced questions about the centre’s future since it emerged in October that it may be forced to shut.
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He said: “People are really concerned, they keep asking us what is happening and we don’t know any more than them. People don’t want it to close, for a lot of them it has been here since they were kids.
"You have everything here – the gym, the pools, a sports hall, saunas, a steam room. There are not many places that have all that under one roof.”
There are roughly 40 staff working at the centre and, while its attendance numbers are down around 15% on pre-Covid levels, it is still the best-used leisure centre in Gateshead. It has more than 285,000 visits a year – but still requires a council subsidy of almost £700,000 to prop it up this year and is expected to need around £9m worth of repairs in the next decade.
Operations manager Andrew Smith said: “One of the big pros of the site is its size and what you can offer here, but that is also a disadvantage for the council in terms of the cost of running it and staffing it. We know there are a lot of members of the centre who rely on walking and on the location of the centre and they perhaps cannot travel easily to somewhere else in a way that people from more affluent areas could.
“We have heard a lot of different stories from users and sometimes the only contact they have with other people in a day is here. If they are not able to access that then they will be deprived of that contact.”
Campaigners have been at pains to stress the importance of the centre to people’s physical and mental wellbeing – something that NHS exercise therapist Adrian Wyszomirski knows all too well. As someone who uses the centre to work with people who have disabilities and mental health issues, he has big worries about its closure.
Mr Wyszomirski said: “For us it is an important location, it is 20 minutes walk away and it is easy to access. We worry what would happen if it closes because it would affect our services.
“The location is key for us. If it was shut then the nearest would be the stadium probably and that would be a barrier for people. Here we know the staff, they are really friendly and they know us.”
David Atkinson, from Low Fell, uses the Alexandra Road centre’s gym three or four times a week – and says fuel costs could put him off travelling to another council-run centre if it closes. He said: “It is close to me, the staff are really nice, and there are good facilities here – I have used it all my life.
“I can drive and I have a car, but I don’t know if I would travel to Heworth. I used to go to the stadium and the difference in petrol there was quite noticeable for me.”
Natalie White, from Kibblesworth, uses the gym while her daughter enjoys her swimming lessons at the centre. The 39-year-old added: “It is easy for me to get to. If it closes then I would have to find another gym and we would have to find somewhere else for swimming lessons too. I hope they will keep it open.”
Almost 7,500 people responded to a public consultation on the leisure plans, which ended this week. Gateshead Council says it will now analyse the thousands of responses before a decision on the centres’ future is made at a cabinet meeting on January 24.
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