Frustration as coach 'loses money' in GL1 Leisure Centre closure

A "frustrated" badminton coach claims he lost around £1,500 after a leisure centre he taught from closed suddenly.

Gloucester's GL1 Leisure Centre and Sports Park closed on Friday after charitable trust Aspire went into liquidation.

George Moorey said he paid an invoice for the use of badminton courts on the previous day.

Aspire say they are currently unable to settle any amounts owed due to legal restrictions.

The trust's chief executive Jacquie Douglas told the BBC they were in the process of appointing an insolvency practitioner to manage the company's affairs.

"Details have been recorded and will be passed to the insolvency practitioner when they are appointed later this month, who will contact individuals with further information," she said.

Mr Moorey is the lead coach of Oxtsalls Badminton Academy, which teaches 110 children between the ages of seven and 18.

On Thursday, he said he paid around £1,500 to hire the badminton courts at GL1 Leisure Centre and Oxstalls Sports Park. The next day, he said he heard the centre had closed.

"It's frustrating. I don't see it as my money. I see it as money that's paid to me in good faith by my players and their parents," said Mr Moorey.

"I'll have to refund [some of the players] but I won't be able to refund them the full amount," he added.

Some gym users say they are struggling to cancel their memberships, such as Alishba Khan.

She said she paid for a month's membership in the last week of September and could not get through to staff to cancel it.

Ms Khan said this was a "waste of membership".

And the closure has also left sports clubs without training facilities in the midst of competition season.

"We need GL1 back open as soon as possible", said chair of Gloucester City Swimming Club Abi Poyntz-Wright.

"It's the only eight-lane pool in the county and we were meant to be holding a competition on 21 October, with hundreds of swimmers coming from all over the country to compete," she added.

Astrea Gymnastics club were also left without a place to train just days before a competition.

"This is a purpose built facility. We don't have that anywhere else," said Emily Broadbent, who coaches athletes aged four to 11 years old.

"Currently we're faced with the prospect of having to travel up to an hour in any direction for access to a purpose built facility," she added.

Aspire was contracted 15 years ago to operate and manage the leisure centre and sports park on behalf of Gloucester City Council.

More than 150 people have lost their jobs as a result of the closure and it is feared the facilities might not reopen for a year.

It is understood the trust did not believe it would be able to continue to operate even with significant additional council support.

Financial pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the more recent rise in utility costs had left it struggling to continue.

A council spokesperson said: "We worked with Aspire to try to support them in particular committing to the financial support that they requested, of over £1.5m since 2019 but despite this, the trust did not feel it was able to continue."

They added: "We will continue to look for solutions and hope to secure the service's long term future, and explore whether any facilities can be reopened sooner."

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