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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed that I have to pay for gym membership whilst others don't?

124 replies

Aworryingtrend · 21/02/2011 12:31

I know I need to don my hard hat but I really am Hmm about this.

I have just joined my local council-run gym to try and tone up and lose weight. This is costing £23 a month which whilst not a huge amount to some people is a fairly significant amount to DH & I.

AIBU to annoyed that whilst I have to pay for the privelige of using the gym and pool, others can attend completely free under the NHS exercise referral scheme or by being in receipt of some benefits?

OP posts:
going · 21/02/2011 13:00

I was offerd a gym refferal by my GP.

I would have had to pay £2.70 session, could do two a week off peak. I have a two year old and would have had to pay full price for the creche (£5 per hour). The precription was vaild for 12 sessions/6 weeks. It wasn't worth it due to creche fees and wanted to go 3x's per week both on and off peak so paid for a full membership.

JeremyVile · 21/02/2011 13:02

It's nothing to do with beng on benefits, is it?

mrsscoob · 21/02/2011 13:02

How do you know why they are there? You don't know, you are just speculating, you haven't a clue how or why they are there!

I am sure their Doctors are more qualified than you are to make an assessment as to whether or not it is necessary.

Get a life.

Original poster
Aworryingtrend · 21/02/2011 13:03

Yes- at my gym if you are in receipt of some benfits (I don't know which- its on my introductory pack which is in the car)you can attend free or at a much reduced rate. people under the NHS Referral scheme can attend free.

OP posts:
mrsscoob · 21/02/2011 13:04

Maybe read it then before posting. Its probably a disability benefit, not jsa, stop making things up in your head.

going · 21/02/2011 13:05

My refeeral was to help me lose weight, not in receipt of benefits other then CB.

Original poster
Aworryingtrend · 21/02/2011 13:06

MrsScoob- I'm not speculating about anything. As per my PP, the literature from my Gym states quite clearly that "if you are in receipt of some benfits (I don't know which- its on my introductory pack which is in the car)you can attend free or at a much reduced rate. People under the NHS Referral scheme can attend free"

OP posts:
JeremyVile · 21/02/2011 13:08

Two seperate things. You are getting confused in your rush to hoik up your wedgy.

NHS referral - therapeutic and nothing to do with benefits.

Reduced rate at council gyms for those in reciept of certain benefits - you'll find that this is offered in order to comply with charity status.

Lots of public facilities offer such discounts, it helps make sure that everyone has access to council facilities.

mrsscoob · 21/02/2011 13:09

Well as I said, maybe read the pack before posting, as it is more likely a disabilty benefit and surely you wouldn't begrudge someone then??

Have a look and let us know Smile and if it is free gym membership for people on JSA or equivilent I will apologise Wink

funtimewincies · 21/02/2011 13:10

Don't know about entitlement while on benefits, but a family member gets membership because of Parkinson's. She can do closely supervised exercise to build up muscle tone to try and avoid falls and to keep independence.

A lot cheaper than physio/hospitalisation/home care I'd say.

Imnotaslimjim · 21/02/2011 13:12

YABU. I've been on the gym refferal from the GP and it isn't free, and I didn't get it because I'm on benefits (I'm not on any apart from CTC and that doesn't count towards it) I got it because I'm obese and its an incentive to help you lose weight

They do charge you to use it though - for me it was a £28 referal fee, then you get 10 weeks for nothing. After that, its £5 a week so not much less than what you're paying

As others have said, you don't have to go to the gym, so to pay the fee is your own choice

GypsyMoth · 21/02/2011 13:16

Benefit bashing again!!!! Not even by stealth....

fedupofnamechanging · 21/02/2011 13:16

I think that people who really need the gym and are on benefits, shouldn't be penalised because they are poor. However, not everyone needs the gym and just being on benefits is not a good enough reason imo to get something for free that everyone else has to pay full whack for. Most people could shift a bit of excess weight by going for a run or doing exercise DVDs.

It used to annoy me years back when my friend was offered free gym and childcare to enable her to attend. She was a single parent, on income support. Her baby's dad was paying jack shit for his upbringing. I was working and paying tax and it used to annoy me a bit that I was subsidising her life and helping to bear the cost of raising her son while she had no intention of getting a job and no intention of making her ex pay his share. She actively didn't want his involvement and he was more than happy to not be involved.

LessNarkyPuffin · 21/02/2011 13:19

The gym referals are offered by the NHS because it makes financial sense. It's a cost effective way of treating people. As for free/reduced gym membership for those on certain benefits, I really don't see the problem.

Perhaps you'd be a happier person if you stopped focusing on what other people get and try to enjoy your own life.

mrsscoob · 21/02/2011 13:28

I love how an NHS referal from a doctor (like examples of family members with parkinsons disease) makes people actually believe that this means and read it as single mothers going to the gym to lose a few pounds!!!

TaffyandTeenyTaffy · 21/02/2011 13:29

I currently have a 16 week GP referral - I pay £1 per session and have to commit to a minimum of 2 sessions per week - so its not free but very reasonable and has got me back into exercising and at the end of the 16 week period I will continue using the council gym facilities. The health benefits for me have been great - and in my case I think its money well spent.

ChippingInNeedsCoffee · 21/02/2011 13:31

Imnotaslimjim - is that £5 a week an ongoing thing or does it have a time limit? Our gym is usually £47 pm but has regular 'specials' on for £23 and once you sign up you are guaranteed that price for life (so long as you keep paying going!). It might be well worth looking into at your gym - I expect they'll have a 'Get fit for summer' special on soon! You need to look at the local paper because, of course, they aren't exactly pro-active in marketing it to their current users Grin

BuzzLiteBeer · 21/02/2011 13:36

So you don't want it for free, you just don't want other people to get it for free? Begrudge much? Hmm

edam · 21/02/2011 13:41

God, I do wish people would engage their brains and think about why something might be the case before they sound off.

Exercise referral is referral by a GP for patients who may benefit from exercise. If you aren't ill, you don't get it. That's life, you don't get heart drugs or antidepressants either.

There is evidence that schemes like these reduce the drugs bill - because exercise can make people feel better so less reliant on anti-ds, for example, as well as having all sorts of positive effects. People who are depressed get out of the house and find other people they can talk to and get to know. These things help people start to overcome their problems, in the end saving the taxpayer money.

Bitch about it all you like but do put your hand in your pocket and pay the extra taxes that would be needed if the depressed and jobless stayed depressed and jobless or heart attack victims went on to have a second attack while you are about it.

LittleMissHissyFit · 21/02/2011 13:49

So fucking what? Are gyms now only supposed to be the realm of the rich then?

If people are referred for the service I dare say someone with professional qualifications thinks that they are in need of it or could benefit their lives by it. Much like Osteopathy or Acupuncture as alternative therapies for a range of ailments.

Single mothers have as much right to enter a gym as anyone else, not all single mothers are on benefits either. If there is a subsidy/free service there, it's there for a good reason, not just some whim of a council employee.

OP, if you are genuinely struggling to make ends meet to afford to go to the gym, look into any help you may be entitled to. Others are in much more dire straits than you, and if they can gain access to a gym for a subsidised rate or for nothing, all well and good.

How utterly meanspirited and low class of you , just because you pay for a service doesn't mean necessarily it's exclusive.

BuzzLiteBeer · 21/02/2011 13:51

and "some benefits" could easily refer to disability benefits. Or would you prefer poor, disabled people to keep out of your gym? Hmm

BaggedandTagged · 21/02/2011 13:51

"Bitch about it all you like but do put your hand in your pocket and pay the extra taxes that would be needed if the depressed and jobless stayed depressed and jobless or heart attack victims went on to have a second attack while you are about it."

But why can't they just go for a walk or a run? Seeing what most people do in the gym they'd be better off.

BuzzLiteBeer · 21/02/2011 13:57

why can't heart attack victims just go for a run? Have you thought that through at all? Hmm

doggiesayswoof · 21/02/2011 14:02

agree edam.

YABU.

I know one person who has been prescribed exercise. He is a friend who has a lifelong history of depression. He's also quite overweight. He is more motivated to exercise now since he knows he will be asked how it's going on follow up appointments with his GP.

He has had a tough and pretty miserable life and - really - you wouldn't want to swap places with him.

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 21/02/2011 14:03