Everything you need to know about our leisure centres reopening

Chelmsford City Council’s four leisure centres are getting ready to reopen their doors on 12 April.

The council runs four leisure centres: Riverside in the city centre, Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre in Melbourne, South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre and Dovedale Leisure Centre in Moulsham.

All four centres are looking forward to welcoming customers back in April, with a number of core activities allowed when this next step of the roadmap out of lockdown gets underway.

Gyms and pools open

The big headline for April 12 is that we’ll be able to get back into gyms and swimming pools. The restrictions in place will be the same as before, so remember to pre-book your sessions, bring a mask for when you’re travelling around the centre and keep to any one-way systems which are still in place.

School swimming and lessons for under-18s will be starting up again in the Riverside and South Woodham Ferrers pools from this date, but aqua classes and activities for over-18s won’t begin until the next phase.

Under-18s will also be allowed back into the Riverside Ice Rink from April 12, with Skate School, clubs and patch sessions allowed for them again.

The next phase in May

Some activities won’t be able to start up again until 17 May, when we should reach the next stage of the roadmap.

From this date, indoor exercise classes will be able to get going again across the centres. If you’re missing group classes like spin, yoga and body pump, the leisure team has a plan to get you through that extra month until they can get you back into the studios.

Free online classes for monthly members

From 12 April, monthly members will be given free access to a live online class timetable of more than 40 classes a week and around 50 pre-filmed sessions featuring Riverside instructors.

Sarah Smith, who manages the leisure centres says it’s a great way for members to keep things going until next phase gets underway.

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“Classes are some of the most popular activities we run, and we know lots of people are desperate to return to our studios.

We wanted to do something to help members keep their fitness goals on track in this initial period between April and May and these online classes are great at getting you ready for the real thing.”

Sarah Smith, the manager of Chelmsford City Council’s four leisure centres

Holiday courses and soft play

From 17 May, the centres will see the return of soft play and a range of kids’ holiday courses are also allowed to start up again. During this next phase, numbers will still be restricted for most activities and pre-booking will also be necessary.

Restrictions lifted on 21 June

If the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown goes to plan, the centres should be able to open normally from 21 June with all activities running with no restrictions and measures like pre-booking and one-way systems a thing of the past.

Find out exactly what’s happening and when by visiting the Chelmsford City Sports website, where you can find details about every activity running at the centres.