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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Local leisure centre is filthy?

55 replies

girlfriend44 · 07/02/2025 16:54

What's yours like.
Our local leisure centre is dismal. Filthy hall floors and toilets.

Can't be healthy for people doing classes etc.
Some people even get down in the hall to do exercises.
It's like they have not got any cleaners?

They keep trying to sell gym membership though?

What's yours like?

OP posts:
ChristinaW16 · 07/02/2025 19:42

Ours is lovely (Calderdale, West Yorks). I go every morning and there is always a cleaner there. Local authority-owned, I pay £30 a month for my swimming but that includes gym and classes too..would be heartbroken if it closed like my local one did 💔

girlfriend44 · 07/02/2025 22:33

MelisandeLongfield · 07/02/2025 19:14

Why do you go there if it's so flithy? Nothing will change unless people vote with their feet. You don't have to go to a gym/leisure centre to get some exercise.

I was interested to see if others have the same.

I belong to a few nice groups and I like going and have got to know them.

OP posts:
girlfriend44 · 28/02/2025 15:27

Update . Leisure centre has got rid of cleaner to save money.

OP posts:
Lovelysummerdays · 28/02/2025 18:55

girlfriend44 · 28/02/2025 15:27

Update . Leisure centre has got rid of cleaner to save money.

The lifeguards do the cleaning in our local leisure centre. They are very nice but it’s more of a swoosh over with a mop than an actual clean.

Temporaryname158 · 28/02/2025 19:59

Yes the pool changing rooms are abysmal. Dates, filthy and quite depressing. The shower dribbles not flows and the shower curtain has huge amounts of black mould.

the pool itself however is much better and appears to be quite clean

Totototo · 28/02/2025 20:15

Ours is spotless no pool though in the one nearest to me.

TartanMammy · 28/02/2025 20:21

It's a filthy health hazard 🤢. So grimey, litter all over the changing rooms, over flowing bins, mould in the showers, chipped tiled in the pool.

DP was a council leisure attendant a long time ago and they didn't employ cleaners. The attendants were expected to clean between customers - including toilets and showers! It very rarely gets done, and never to a proper standard. They either didn't have the time on a busy shift or weren't motivated to do it.

Flamingoknees · 28/02/2025 21:16

Ours is run by Everyone Active. No dedicated cleaners. They swill the pool changing area floors fairly regularly. However the cubicles themselves eg doors, seat and walls are never cleaned. Red blood stains turn black eventually and are a new permanent feature. I'd be gutted if it shut though - my swims set me uo for the day. If the public followed rules, and didn't wear outdoor shoes, the floors would be much cleaner.

Smartiepants79 · 28/02/2025 21:17

Ours is really rather nice. It’s definitely clean.

girlfriend44 · 28/02/2025 21:27

Surely by law, health and safety and everything, leisure centres should have cleaners.
It's not just the pool, it's the toilets, the gyms and halls etc.

OP posts:
Gingerkittykat · 28/02/2025 21:42

My council owned leisure centre is really clean. I use the pool, health suite and gym and they are all clean. The toilets are regularly cleaned but can get a bit gross because the water saving flush doesn't flush turds very well so they just lie in the pan.

MissScarlettInTheBallroomWithALeadPipe · 28/02/2025 21:45

Mine is quite nice actually but the one I used to go to, although it was mostly clean the swimming pool changing rooms were manky. Nasty.

sunsettosunrise · 28/02/2025 22:09

dizzydizzydizzy · 07/02/2025 19:36

should be a combination of lifeguards and cleaners. As PP said, cleaners often don’t turn up or are often a bit useless.

I use to be a lifeguard when I was at uni (admittely this was 10 years ago), and it isnt their responsibility to clean the changing rooms/bathrooms. If your kid was drowning, you would hope the lifeguard isnt scrubbing the bog.

Floor on the pool should be lifeguards responsibility though, we mostly mopped the floor towards close down when its quiet. At the weekend (peak time) its very hard to get the resources to clean the floors during the day.

BobbyBiscuits · 28/02/2025 22:12

All of the ones I've been to in my whole life have been a bit questionable hygeine wise. I just kind of think, 'oh, they must be just about to clean that'. But yet it can't be the case all the time?!

Most are private companies aren't they now?

dizzydizzydizzy · 28/02/2025 22:32

sunsettosunrise · 28/02/2025 22:09

I use to be a lifeguard when I was at uni (admittely this was 10 years ago), and it isnt their responsibility to clean the changing rooms/bathrooms. If your kid was drowning, you would hope the lifeguard isnt scrubbing the bog.

Floor on the pool should be lifeguards responsibility though, we mostly mopped the floor towards close down when its quiet. At the weekend (peak time) its very hard to get the resources to clean the floors during the day.

In the leisure centre I work in and also the one DC2 works in, the lifeguards clean the changing rooms and the rest of the building (in combination with the cleaners). They do it when they are off poolside.

girlfriend44 · 28/02/2025 22:40

dizzydizzydizzy · 28/02/2025 22:32

In the leisure centre I work in and also the one DC2 works in, the lifeguards clean the changing rooms and the rest of the building (in combination with the cleaners). They do it when they are off poolside.

Times are tough if leisure centres having to get rid of cleaners.
Must be something to do with the council budget.

OP posts:
sunsettosunrise · 28/02/2025 22:41

dizzydizzydizzy · 28/02/2025 22:32

In the leisure centre I work in and also the one DC2 works in, the lifeguards clean the changing rooms and the rest of the building (in combination with the cleaners). They do it when they are off poolside.

Oh ok, that is sad to read because I dont think cleaning is the lifeguards responsibility. No wonder standards are slipping.

Maybe things have changed in the past decade.

girlfriend44 · 28/02/2025 22:45

sunsettosunrise · 28/02/2025 22:41

Oh ok, that is sad to read because I dont think cleaning is the lifeguards responsibility. No wonder standards are slipping.

Maybe things have changed in the past decade.

Yes less money around.

OP posts:
Lifelover16 · 28/02/2025 22:49

Disgustingly filthy. Special offer of free verucca with every new membership.
Sand and grit swirling around the steps to the pool.
Lockers contain remnants of food.
Gym equipment with rusty pins, padding split on benches
God knows what smeared on toilet walls
A gaggle of kids at reception who seem to do nothing. I cancelled membership and wrote to head office explaining why, unsurprisingly heard nothing.

Mulledmead · 28/02/2025 23:03

I was at a swimming pool this weekend and someone had gone for a poo in one the shower cubicles. Luckily we were 'up stream' when we realised. Some poor lad of about 18 turned up to clean it up with a scoop, mop and bucket. Said it wasn't the first time. But they didn't close the surrounding area whilst they sorted it. I will never go back there.
Luckily the one closer is better, but definitely cleaned by pool attendants rather than a cleaning team.
I think there should be stricter rules about wearing outdoor shoes in the changing area. A dedicated area to remove and store shoes before entering the changing areas would help surely?

dizzydizzydizzy · 28/02/2025 23:11

girlfriend44 · 28/02/2025 22:40

Times are tough if leisure centres having to get rid of cleaners.
Must be something to do with the council budget.

The one I work in has cleaners morning and evening. The cleaning needs to be constant to keep the place nice. 100s of customers
come each day and many of tbem leave a mess behind them….. muddy footprints on the floor, food dropped everywhere, razors left in showers, toilets left in a disgusting state…… litter, dirty nappies and used needles left in cubicles.

The lifeguards are supposed to check the changing rooms and make sure they are safe and vaguely presentable.‘they don’t like doing it so it is often not done properly or even at all.

Sinkintotheswamp · 28/02/2025 23:37

Our local authority sports centre and pool is almost always spotless, and has been for 20yrs. Always ventilated and dry too. We are very lucky.

Blarn · 28/02/2025 23:45

I don't know about the gym but the reception and facilities at ours could be a bit fresher but are clean and tidy. Apart from the changing room floors at lesson times as some parents absolutely will not wear shoe covers or take their shoes off. It baffles me as its their children walking in all the dirt from outside. The staff hose and squeegee but there's no point.

ChloeCannotCanCan · 28/02/2025 23:57

Gosh I feel really fortunate as our council run leisure centre is great - freshly decorated and very clean. I get up close and personal with the floor lots in yoga classes and it's never been a problem...

BananaBubbless · 01/03/2025 00:01

I was a member at the local leisure centre gym about two years ago and it was always very clean as far as I could tell.