On Line

Six weeks after opening, five weeks into SwimSchool, and over 100,000 visits later, one member of the management team at the new Clissold Leisure Centre, Sales & Marketing Manager, Oz Karabiyik, gives her personal feedback to N16.

My main motive for moving to Clissold was to be a part of the rebirth of community leisure in Hackney, offering a range of leisure activities to N16 and beyond. Clissold is a really important development for the local area and is a key part of leisure services in Hackney, along with Kings Hall, Britannia and Stoke Newington Reservoir. Hackney Council did a lot of consulting with local residents and groups in the area even before the building was designed, to try and cater for the needs of the local community. That consultation is continuing now that the doors are open to the public to make sure that we offer the right activities and programmes at the best times.

Swimming is a great example of how users' feedback is changing what's on offer at Clissold. It is no coincidence that the pool programme has changed twice since we opened on 1 February in response to constructive feedback from our users. The initial swimming development programme for under 16s was based on feedback from local focus groups. Since the launch of SwimSchool (our award winning teaching programme) on 11 February no less than 600 local children (68% N16,13% E8, 11% E5) have successfully started their swimming lessons at Clissold.

Clissold Swim Club (formerly Haggerston Swim Club) now offers further swimming development opportunities for all ages every weekday evening and the disability swim club is now well established and continuing to grow. We're developing swimming programmes for people of all ages and abilities at the site - from beginners right through to Olympic athletes. Elaine Barrett, Paralympic swimmer and member of the disability swim club at Clissold, has found use of the training pool instrumental in improving her times coming up to the commonwealth trials in a fortnight. More than 1,000 local school children who had never had structured swimming lessons within their school curriculum have since attended the schools' swimming programme at Clissold.

And it's not just swimming. I feel it is important that we get the message out to local families that Clissold is not just the local pool. We offer great after-school family activities such as badminton, football, table tennis, netball and fitness sessions at the cheapest rates locally (a family of four can play badminton after school for less than £1.50 each!!). And our new programme due in April will offer even more:
- After School Fun splash sessions (Thanks Penny C!!)

- Kids Dance classes
- More 50+ sessions
-Trampoline, kids'football etc.
All of these sessions are being offered as a direct result of constructive feedback we have received from visitors since opening.

Whilst there are lots of great things happening at the site, we are aware that a number of facilities on the site have yet to open, including:
- Purposebuilt family changing rooms
- Family slide
- Family jacuzzi
- Toddler & baby introduction to water pool
- Alternative therapy rooms
- Children's play area
- Creche
There have been some teething problems and our priority is to make sure that our visitors' health and safety comes first. We will be opening these areas in the coming months and will let everybody know when they can come along and use these great facilities.

I guess what I would like more than anything would be to establish a sense of ownership in the facilities from the local community - a feeling that Clissold belongs to N16. Local activities for local people - that's what is on offer at the Centre. My brief, put simply, is to keep the Centre moving forward, ensuring that the right balance is reached in catering for the entire community. Oh, and making sure Clissold becomes London's No. 1 Leisure Centre!!

To find out more contact Oz on 020 7275 2950.