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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed that all the swimming pools are closed today

28 replies

oldpeculiar · 31/12/2012 13:23

the council ones anyway.It's school holidays and a working day, yet all 5 pools run bu our borough council are closed all day.3 or them are closed for the entire period from 24th December to 1st January inclusive.

OP posts:
spoonsspoonsspoons · 31/12/2012 13:28

YANBU

It irritates me every year, I don't understand why as a leisure facility they should close for anything other than the bank holidays. They want to encourage people to be active but when people actually have the time to do things they close.

tzella · 31/12/2012 13:29

Oh, are they? GOOD. That makes me feel less crappy for not going again and ending the year as I started it; fat.

bruffin · 31/12/2012 13:37

If the pools are anything like ours they are staffed by casual teenagers like my DS17. He is off with gf today and also has as levels within days of going back to school.

atthewelles · 31/12/2012 13:39

To be fair, it would probably be too expensive to open them and pay staff for days that very few people would be likely to use them.

Marvs · 31/12/2012 13:42

Think it must depend on the local authority, I have just got back from a swim at a pool in newcastle city centre. Usual staff but reduced hours ( originally went for a sauna but that was opening even later)

FeckOffCup · 31/12/2012 13:43

YANBU, ours are the same and I'm running out of ways to get my 2 year old to burn off some energy when the weather is crappy outside. I would much rather take her swimming than to overcrowded, overpriced softplay.

fatlazymummy · 31/12/2012 13:46

Wow, there are 5 pools in your borough council area? There are 2 in mine and one is closed until May. The other one is usually too packed to be able to actually swim in.
I agree, I would expect them to be open during school holidays.

InWithTheITCrowd · 31/12/2012 14:02

My mum is a swimming teacher. She takes group lessons via the LA and private lessons.. Last year, not one of her private lessons turned up during this period and out of her 10 classes, only one ran due to non-attendance.
The same happened with all the teachers there.
The pool decided this year to pre-empt the no-shows and close the pool for the holidays.
I think for the amount of customers they get, it's just not worth opening over this week.

freddiefrog · 31/12/2012 14:06

Ours are all closed too.

The weather is awful so we were going to take the kids today to blow off some steam.

We get free swimming for under 16s during the school holidays, but the pools all seem to close for most of them

Original poster
oldpeculiar · 31/12/2012 14:06

I think a lot of people would use them this year.It has rained solidly since the kids broke up Sad and a bit Angry

OP posts:
emsyj · 31/12/2012 14:09

YANBU - our local council used to always close the leisure centres for an extra day every bank holiday, so if it was bank hol Monday they'd also close Tuesday and they used to shut for 2 weeks solid over Christmas. They don't any more - hurrah!

Ours aren't staffed by casual teenagers bruffin - all of the reception staff at our local one have been there since I can remember and range in age from late 30s to 60s.

bruffin · 31/12/2012 14:15

The lifeguards and operations will most likely be teens.
A lifeguard can only do 2 hours at a time. They need a lot of staff to run a pool. Our pool never makes money on a public swim.

nagynolonger · 31/12/2012 14:19

I think the one nearest us is closed for a few days for repairs. Probably the best week to do it to be fair. It is used by schools in term time.

Was wondering if the library was open......but it's p*ing it down again so I might stop in and finish off the Baileys.

emsyj · 31/12/2012 14:22

Nope, sorry, not at our leisure centre - there are probably 6 lifeguards that I would recognise, none of them teenagers or even close to it! I can't think of any teenagers that work in the leisure centre - it must be a very cushy place to work, the main aerobics instructor is nearly 50 and has been teaching that class for 19 years, the spin instructor is 40 and has been there 15 years at least, the lifeguards rotate around all the local pools as you see them everywhere.... They've all done long service at our place! Grin

I imagine they make most of their money through the monthly membership fees.

comedycentral · 31/12/2012 14:31

YABU the staff are most probably enjoying the time off work with their families just like you are OP. It is New Years eve afterall.

trumpalot · 31/12/2012 14:31

yes i thought it would be nice to visit the library or swim cus weather so bad and fed up of going for nice walks in the rain dd is 3 and missed the last 2 wks of playgroup due to ear infection. i am going stir crazy at painting and baking and anything to entertain,, no need for the to be closed so much over xmas hols grrrrrr x

bruffin · 31/12/2012 14:34

At our leisure they are the lg and ops are all teens even in the weekday they are young. My ds also lifeguards at another pool as well, but that is a private hire.
The receptionist are a lot older and have all been there for years as have the managers. But operations and lifeguards are all very young

spoonsspoonsspoons · 31/12/2012 16:27

"YABU the staff are most probably enjoying the time off work with their families just like you are OP"

I work for a local authority, they also run the leisure centres. Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day are the only days the council offices are closed. I'm confused why the leisure centres would be any different when those services are more likely to be used than many others.

Original poster
oldpeculiar · 31/12/2012 23:03

'YABU the staff are most probably enjoying the time off work with their families just like you are OP. It is New Years eve afterall. '

..but if you work in the leisure industry, you expect to work when people have their leisure time !! Itr's not a bank holiday after all!

OP posts:
GalaxyDisaStar · 31/12/2012 23:08

I just looked. Ours were open today. only shut Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New year's day. That's not bad I don't think.

Lifeguards round by us aren't mostly teenagers. Mostly Polish by their voices. A few look early 20s.

Doingakatereddy · 31/12/2012 23:11

YABU - I'm glad they are closed, I'm glad bins aren't collected etc - because it means staff are getting a HOLIDAY! why should service workers suffer?

I think a week shut down is perfect for everyone, I feel so sorry for retail, NHS, emergency workers etc that have to soldier on.

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 31/12/2012 23:12

Many years ago I worked in a swimming pool. We only closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day we were open every other day, NYE was always a fairly quiet day for us so was NYD.

Myliferocks · 31/12/2012 23:13

Our local pool is shut for 2 weeks at the moment to do maintenance work.
They do it over Christmas as this is the quietest time of year

threesocksfullofchocs · 31/12/2012 23:14

yanbu as long as you don't might paying double so that the staff get more pay

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 31/12/2012 23:16

Why would the staff need more pay today? It's a regular working day not a bank holiday.