Surprisingly accessible Swim centre with character
3.5
3.5
Date of visit: January 2018
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Good
A great little swim centre, with lift access and gym facilities.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
I was really surprised by just how accessible the swim centre was. Although it is an old building, all of the facilities were available to me in my manual wheelchair user. There is automatic doors when entering the building and lift access up to the reception. The staff at reception will give you access to the upper floors, as they are protected to prevent people "sneaking in" to the gym The swimming pool has an accessible changing area and a hoist to give access to the pool. It is a fixed hoist, so is always available whenever the centre is open. There is also an accessible loo right next to the pool, which is handy. There is a steam room and sauna just behind the pool, which are accessible. They are quite small though, so if using mobility equipment (wheelchair, walker etc.) then you might need a little imagination. The gym on the reception floor is very small, but usable if there aren't many people in the room. There is another, larger gym upstairs which is still quite tight, but has the equipment laid out in a clever way, which makes it feel bigger than it is.
Parking & Transport
Average
There is on street parking, but not many available and it is a residential area.
Accessible Toilets
Good
There is an accessible loo next to the pool which had everything I needed. There is another loo on the top floor, but I didn't see that.
Staff
Excellent
I was so impressed by that staff in the centre. Despite having such a small staff team, they offered support and advice throughout our visit and really couldn't have done anymore for us. Ryan at reception gave us a tour of the gym equipment and another staff member even came off is lunch early to allow Ryan to do that. Fantastic effort!
Additional Information
The age of the building really added to the visit, but the staff really went the extra mile.
