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Original poster

Personal trainer using local park to train clients inside actual playground near children

340 replies

lucindalovescats · 07/08/2020 11:25

I was dumbfounded this morning when I took my children to a big local playground in surrey to find a personal trainer teaching an adult man (who was obviously a client) using the play equipment.

She had large heavy metal dumb bells on the floor next to the swings and stretch equipment and a harness attached to the climbing frame.

It was 0830 am (took the kids early today as it's so hot) but there were already atleast 6-8 children playing with their parents so not empty.

I approached them and calmly said that the equipment was unsafe and was preventing the children from using the swings so could they please leave.

They didnt look embarrassed at all and said they were almost finished anyway.
After 15 minutes the man had left but the personal trainer was still there slowly pacing away equipment without a care in the world.
I must admit I lost my temper at this point and raised my voice to say it was completely illegal and unsafe for her to use the playground in this way and that I would be sending a photo of her to the local council. Not to mention it's a pandemic.

She was very brazen and told me I needed to calm down and take a muscle relaxant.

All the while no other parents said a word to back me up.
Why is that people dont say anything? That upset me as much as the situation did.

Or am I just an uptight cranky mum who needs to keep quiet?

OP posts:
fascinated · 07/08/2020 22:18

@cologne4711

when in fact it’s the trainer and client who are the definition of entitled here, looking to hog public equipment for free

No, they both pay council tax.

I don't live in Surrey, but I have lived in quite a few different places, and people have respected children's playgrounds everywhere that I've lived Really? No dog owners letting their dogs run all over the place? No teens hanging around on the swings? Yeah right.

If you run a business council tax won’t cover your usage.

It’s a liability issue here, not a paedo issue.

VoiceOfCommonSense · 07/08/2020 23:05

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RustyBear · 07/08/2020 23:14

Not all councils require a permit for PTs to use parks - our council announced two weeks ago that PTs would need a licence, starting from the next day, and costing from £500 for one client and rising rapidly for more. Three days later, after a massive outcry, they said sorry, we made a mistake, and withdrew the requirement.

Winterwoollies · 07/08/2020 23:43

In my neck of the woods PTs pay for a permit to use council-owned parks for client.training. Maybe that’s the case in your area. If so, she actually had more right to be there than you..

HappyPear · 07/08/2020 23:44

I don't think they're the ones who should have looked embarrassed.

PiataMaiNei · 08/08/2020 08:09

@Winterwoollies

In my neck of the woods PTs pay for a permit to use council-owned parks for client.training. Maybe that’s the case in your area. If so, she actually had more right to be there than you..
Actual play areas or just wider park space? The former sounds like such a terrible and implausible idea that I'd be interested to read up more about it if you don't mind saying where. Also, private businesses who've paid for a permit to conduct work in public amenities don't have more right to be there than the general public, they have the same right.
cologne4711 · 08/08/2020 08:36

Haha ok Karen

Oh god not another one. Stop the lazy sexist and ageist name-calling (I actually suspect the OP could be quite a bit younger than your target if she has very young children anyway). Using "Karen" as an insult is completely unacceptable - stop it.

MinnieMousse · 08/08/2020 08:41

Can't believe so many people think this is reasonable. The children's play equipment is there for children to play on, not for adults to exercise with. Unsafe or otherwise, attaching equipment makes it harder for kids to play with the equipment that is there for them. I would have told them to jog on too.

MinnieMousse · 08/08/2020 08:43

And we have PTs/boit camps running in our parks. I have no problem with that - they just use the grassed read that are available to everyone, but the kids play equipment should be used for kids to play on.

Xenia · 08/08/2020 08:44

It has been a problem even back in the 60s when I was a child. Some parks have one section for very small children (that was the one where my teacher mother used to force the teenagers who were breaching the clear rules signs to move) and another for bigger children. At both there was always the problem of the man in the dirty mac usuallhy not exposing himself but sometimes he would standing by watching. I am sure they remain around to this day. And then you would get adults on the swings - often people in love, making out on or near the swings and now we have personal trainers. One park near me has a set of equipment for people trying to get fit and it is nowhere near where the children go for the swings although it was taped off due to covid 19 and I am not sure if it is now back in operation as I assume it gets covered in adult sweat and spit.

woollyheart · 08/08/2020 10:56

Fitness areas near me are now open for use, but not sure if that is a local decision to make.

EatsShootsAndRuns · 08/08/2020 10:57

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woollyheart · 08/08/2020 10:58

Yes, I remember seeing sleazy men in raincoats exposing themselves where children were playing. I had assumed that was why playgrounds are more protected now, not just so that children didn't run off.

EatsShootsAndRuns · 08/08/2020 10:59

Ah it was a solo goady post designed to whip up a bunfight.

woollyheart · 08/08/2020 11:00

@EatsShootsAndRuns Haven't you noticed that the adults have turned up and have told the bullies to get lost?

differentnameforthis · 08/08/2020 11:38

You do not have any more right than she does to use the playground equipment.

Yes, they should have moved sooner once kids arrived, but aren't actually acting in any way illegal or unsafe.

Why should anyone have backed you up? They weren't actually doing anything wrong.

Goingdownto · 08/08/2020 11:39

Rubbish. It's not the op who would have "rights" anyway in this scenario, it's the children. How anyone can say with a straight face that an adult has the same right as a child to use a children's play park is beyond me.

Goingdownto · 08/08/2020 11:41

My new spreadsheet is of any poster who ever uses "Karen" in that misogynistic way, so I know not to engage with them on any thread. Five and counting. It's pathetic.

Zany15 · 08/08/2020 11:54

I would really struggle to get myself worked up about this. How is it illegal? Climbing frames are sturdy bits of kit, designed for multiple children at a time, so how is one adult going to break it? Really, you need to calm down. There are worse things going on in the world at the moment.

daisypond · 08/08/2020 12:56

This is one of the most baffling threads I have read. I feel like I’m in an alternative universe. While it’s clearly not illegal, the OP is basically right. It seems outstandingly clear to me.

Nicknacky · 08/08/2020 12:57

woollyheart Your obsession with talking about paedophiles and park weirdos is quite frankly, weird.

Why do you keep mentioning it?

ScorpioSphinxInACalicoDress · 08/08/2020 13:05

Quite, nicknacky. And in a quite lascivious way too.

RiotAndAlarum · 08/08/2020 16:38

I'm stunned at the number of people taking the PT's side, to the point of repeating the "muscle relaxant" jibe. As for calling her "Karen", (a) why do you people not have any standards? It's inconsiderate and even dangerous for adults to take over a children's playground (and they were in the way: 0830 is not early for playground-age kids) which is not for them. (b) If you sneer at "Karens", you'll have no protection when others do the same to you.

KarenKarendson · 08/08/2020 16:49

I'm stunned at the number of people taking the PT's side, to the point of repeating the "muscle relaxant" jibe.

If these people only have Karen to use as an insult, then it clearly shows their limited thought process. In turn it stands to reason that their lack of intelligence and critical thought means they are unable to comprehend why a PT using children play equipment is not the right thing to do.

grey12 · 08/08/2020 17:00

In all the playgrounds I take my kids there is always a sign saying that adults have to be accompanied by a child

Check the playground rules. People don't really read them but they're usually there

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