Gloucester coach 'devastated' by closure of GL1 leisure centre

A gymnastics coach says the closure of a leisure centre is a "devastating blow" for the whole county.

Martin Collett, joint head coach at The Gym Centre, has led classes at the GL1 Leisure Centre for over 20 years.

But recently, GL1 Leisure Centre and Oxstalls Sports Park announced its facilities were closing, resulting in 150 job losses.

Aspire, the charitable trust which ran the leisure centre, said it had faced challenging conditions over the years.

Mr Collett says it's a "terrible tragedy" and has left 200 gymnasts without anywhere to train properly ahead of two competitions in a few weeks time.

The team are currently training in a temporary gym which does not have all the equipment they need.

"It has no bar, no beam and no vaulting table," said Mr Collett.

"We are an artistic club - Olympic gymnastics, so we need that apparatus really.

"We've got a major competition coming up at the end of the month and they've got no apparatus to train on."

Rod Wheelwright, former duty manager of GL1 said the community had come together to set up a support group called "There is Only One GL1."

"We're still shocked. We still can't believe that we're unemployed," said Mr Wheelwright.

"It's sad really. I came here a year ago and I couldn't swim. And now I'm a qualified life guard at 56 years of age. I never thought I'd be that. It's just memories like that."

Mr Wheelwright says he wants to work with the council to help the leisure centre get back up and running again.

"It's a massive operation. For instance, the Gloucester Swimming Club, the gymnastics club - they're trying to find different clubs. It's just frustrating that it's finished like this," he said.

On Friday, Gloucester City Council announced that it was taking back control of the GL1 leisure centre and Oxstalls sports park, with plans for a phased reopening.

Some of the outdoor pitches at Oxstalls opened at the weekend. As the council works through it plans, it will look at reopening the indoor facilities at Oxstalls.

After that, it will turn their attention to GL1, which is a slightly more complicated building to operate and manage due to the swimming pool.

The council hopes to appoint an interim provider to reopen the rest of the facilities.

Aspire Sports and Cultural Trust Board of Trustees said in a statement last week that the charity has faced some challenging conditions over the last few years and has done everything it can to meet those challenges.

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