Users and a staff member say their gym in Peckham has been ‘neglected’ since the council brought all leisure centres back in-house.
Peckham Pulse Gym was previously run by Everyone Active, but between their contract ending and the handover to Southwark Council, some users and a member of staff claim things went from bad to worse.
An employee at the gym, who prefers to remain anonymous, said: “We were the last ones to know this was happening.
“And when we were told, we were told the reason for the change was to improve things.”
Southwark Council completes the takeover of its leisure centres
The employee agreed it needed improvement, commenting: “By the end of Everyone Active’s contract communication was bad and they had stopped responding to us when we asked for machines to be repaired.”
But he said when the council took over this did not improve. “Around fifteen machines are out of service, and the air con is constantly breaking.”
He also said there is a broken mirror and there is ‘mould’ growing in the gym.
“It’s been neglected. There are a lot of complaints – the environment is not nice. We’ll lose members if it doesn’t get better soon,” he said.
One gym user we spoke to actually cancelled her membership at the start of this month.
Monique, who lives in Rotherhithe, told us: “I started to attend three months ago for Zumba – but the facilities in the gym were not good. They’re very old and the machines are dated – and there was constant dripping from the sauna.”
“It’s a shame because, in Dulwich and Surrey Docks, the facilities are more up-to-date.”
A gym user, Danielle Gregory, said she has noticed the decline and concerning the broken equipment said: “Service users like myself are getting fed up. We are paying for services we are not receiving.”
Since we approached the council for comment on this situation they confirmed they had fixed the air conditioning and were ‘actively addressing’ other equipment repairs.
Councillor Catherine Rose, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Leisure and Parks, said: “We brought the management of our leisure centres back in-house to urgently address outstanding repairs to ensure the delivery of high-quality facilities and services to all visitors.
“Since the transfer, we’ve repaired the air conditioning at Peckham Pulse Leisure Centre, and we are actively addressing other pressing equipment repairs.
“Additionally, we are investigating hygiene concerns raised and will promptly resolve any issues that arise.
“We’re also working with our staff to enhance their working environments and their terms and conditions, actively seeking their recommendations for improvement.”
“We have recently committed to a comprehensive repair programme across the leisure centres, and aim to complete the first phase of this next year.”
Danielle added: “They kept the gym open overnight the other day to do some repairs, so hopefully this is the start of things getting better.”
Peckham Pulse was one of eight leisure centres that Southwark Council brought back in-house in June, after being forced to bail Everyone Active out during the pandemic.
At the time of the takeover, they listed one of their plans was to ‘upgrade gym equipment and bolster class offerings after an initial settling-in period.’
Everyone Active was approached for comment but they chose not to respond at this time.