to think that council-run leisure centres should be more affordable than private health clubs?

[FartyMcTarty]

While pregnant I've rejoined my old health club. The gym helps and the pool is blissful! Nearing my due date though, I've been looking around for affordable exercise options for the whole family.

What I've found is that it would cost at least as much, for much less (reduced pool availability; colder temperatures; shorter opening hours; no fitness classes; grotty changing facilities) to go to the local leisure centre as staying where we are and enjoying a huge, air-conditioned gym; 5 hours' pool availability a day; plenty of different exercise classes, including some for slightly older DCs and private family changing facilities. There's no joining fee as we're lapsed members, and for the same reason we wouldn't be tied into a 12 month contract.

Obviously the benefit of a leisure centre is that you have the option to PAYG, but even so, if you ended up using the gym 3x week and both adults swimming with 2 DCs twice a week, you would end up paying twice as much as the health club membership. This includes locker fees of £1 a go which are non-fefundable So although you would definitely be using what you pay for on PAYG, you wouldn't be losing out by paying up-front for the month at the health club, IYSWIM. In addition to all this, the rates I'm basing my calculations on include membership of a discount scheme, which would cost £20pa per family in the first instance.

Is this unusual for council-run facilities? I do know that in the county neighbouring ours, there is a much better range of classes, the pool is available more often and locker fees are much cheaper, but you still pay a lot per session compared to monthly health club membership. AIBU to think that this shouldn't be the case? Makes a bit of a mockery of the 'Inspire a Generation' bullshit if families can't afford to take formal exercise.

I'm not assuming that all LAs are alike, buy I would expect council facilities to be subsidised by taxes and therefore cheaper to use.

BodyofEeyore, I hadn't even factored in parking costs!

YANBU. I got really peeved when we went to ask about membership prices and they refused to give us the prices until DP and I had walked around the entirety of the facilities with them narrating and then it was just as expensive as the private! You cannot get membership prices on the website either which is frustrating. We would have access to all seven of our local council run sites, but only two are within a half hour public transport commute and they are both pool facilities which have limited swim times that I won't be able to use because of work most of the time! Silliness.

YABU to compare pay as you go prices with monthly memberships.

You need to compare monthly membership between council run leisure centres and private gyms/health clubs

I did. What I was pointing out in my OP is that monthly membership is at least as expensive, and PAYG doubly so.

Actually I didn't make that very clear.

I have a joint membership at a private club but it is 25min drive away. I pay £45 per month for this.

Wanted to join the more local council one and it's £67 per month!

I am envious of those who have creche facilities.

YANBU.

I suppose with the council gym it is aimed at people/families who perhaps can't afford the cost of going to a private gym.

For example, I have until recently been a single mum with one child. To go to Total Fitness was beyond my means. Yet the council leisure centre offers concessionary rates that make it affordable for myself and my daughter.

I think that perhaps the council view it that for customers who do not fall into the concessionary categories (of which there are quite a few categories in our leisure centre), they can theoretically afford to go to/would chose to go to a private gym.

So whereas the private gyms are being buoyed up by those who don't go but are tied into 12 month contracts (and thus offering a better price to other customers), the council gyms are offering concessionary rates to those in need and a similar rate to the private gyms for non-concessions, which helps keep the gym going as it makes up for the loss of income from the concessions IYSWIM?

I don't know if that's clear, my meaning, it makes sense to me though

*oh and I am so lucky to have such fab leisure facilities in my town, none of the replies here represent anything I have experienced. Full prices available on the website and always able to get through to an adviser.

agree !

Jealous of those with great council facilities and free creches!

I get the subsidisation of concessionary rates but unfortunately I'm not altruistic enough to pay for an inferior service to enable that, and I can't imagine that people generally are. Therefore surely that model just wouldn't work.

We pay £45 pound a month for couple unlimited use.

David Lloyd (the only health centre locally that has a pool) wants £90+ for single membership

Council run is way more affordable imo.

My LA leisure center is also more expensive than the local private gym. And rather gritty and there is about 4 1 hour slots for free swimming.

But 5 miles up the road, neighbouring LA has a wonderful center and is about half the price of my LA. It's rather confusing and annoying.

I'm in Sunderland district (yes one of the less wel-off councils with a low health demographic) and a regular membership including swimming classes and gym is heading towards £40pp. The soft play costs are compatible to the softplay warehouses for less than half the equipment.

I cancelled my membership because it was a complete waste. it wasn't much more for ballatynes. Local Authority facilities should be affordable for everyone and aimed at 'entry-level' use, not competing with private gyms, as they will never compare. Price low and attract in people who wouldn't dare enter a rivate gym. The market for those people is well catered for.

I need to use to my local athletics track twice or three times a week, and its £3.50 each time. This annoys me as when it was run by the local athletics club instead of the council, it was free!

I can't uset the gym at the track because PAYG isn't available and membership is full. So I have to go elsewhere to a private facility for the gym and swimming pool, and it costs only £42 a month (which would also include exercise classes if I needed them!)

As some people on this thread have access to wonderful council run leisure centres with swimming, gym, classes and crèche, can anyone tell me if such a wonderful thing exists anywhere in Central / West London?? My local leisure centre is awful and will be demolished in the next couple of months and the likes of Virgin Active are prohibitively expensive, £150 per month if you include 1.5 hrs of child care 3 x week!!

I pay £29 per month for Local Authority facilities, 4 gyms, 3 pools, free classes and a creche on weekends. The gym can get overcrowded early evening and is used by the schools 9-3 but I'm in work then anyway. The nearest one isn't very swish but has all I need. I'm beginning to feel very lucky!

You are! I think I'm going to kick up a stink about it (first-world problems, and all that!)

Seymour Leisure Centre is fantastic sailorvie (& if you're a Westminster resident you can get a discount card which makes it really good value)

Sadly I've moved out of London & now have to fork out £15 (inc parking & non refundable £1 locker fee ) for a family swim and not much less for a single exercise class or gym session!! Monthly membership is on a par with private clubs and I absolutely agree they are too expensive for most people to enjoy using regularly.

Have to say, until May our local facilities were very dated and the building has since been demolished (has needed to be for at least 5 years).

We had a brand new leisure centre built, incorporating everything - library, health centre, pharmacy, swimming pool, gym, function rooms, cafe. It is brilliant and is called a "Neighbourhood Hub". The older council leisure centres in town are being overhauled and turned into 'hubs' and you have access to all with your Well Being card.

I think, although not sure, a private company may have taken over from the council or at the very least the council have outsourced the running of the leisure facilities. I can't work it out though.

Either way, in this area, after years of appalling council leisure facilities, we now have bloody good facilities. It's been a long time coming.

In this instance, the full paying membership is worth it versus going to a private gym. I am pretty sure I would use these facilities at full price, were I in a different financial postion.

My council run one does lots of classes, swimming, sauna, steam and gym for £40 a month

Private near me is £80 a month

Depends where you live I guess

lechatnoir thank you so much for the recommendation!

£12 blummin to swim at our 'council' pool, so we only went once. We swim at an outdoor Pool instead but it is confined to a few months if the weather is right

have joint membership with dh at council one and it saves us a fortune when taking brood swimming and all the classes are free with the pass. however the changing rooms are really minging so need to invest in lots of lamisil!! not sure if a swish around with a manky old mop is enough. yuk. pool seems ok though.