Latest update from June Peebles

                                                                                         Edinburgh Leisure venues extended lets update

With the Scottish Government gradually relaxing lockdown measures one of the questions we get asked most frequently is when will we be reopening.
We were delighted to be able to reopen our golf courses from the 4th of June and have since welcomed over 500 golfers each day. However, the re-opening plans for other venues are all dependent on Scottish Government announcements and guidance for the sport and leisure sector.
Unlike our counterparts in England, the update from the First Minister on 9th July did not signal any significant changes for our venues or services. We are aware of the statement ‘organised outdoor contact sports, play and physical activity can resume for children and young people under 18 (subject to guidance) from 13 July’. We are in regular dialogue with sport governing bodies and are discussing what this means for our outdoor venues.
Along with charities and businesses throughout the country we continue to navigate our way through our COVID-19 world to rebuild a sustainable business. Edinburgh Leisure is undoubtedly facing its greatest challenge since it was established some 22 years ago.
Bringing our buildings and services back to life in a ‘new normal’ operating environment is complex and will mean significant changes for customers and employee over 95% of whom are currently on furlough. We have been carrying out essential maintenance tasks on the venues since lockdown, however there will be significant work required to prepare our venues for opening to ensure a safe environment. The financial implications of re-opening will also have to be considered i.e. what venues, activities and when. Again, all re-opening plans will be informed by Scottish Government and Sportscotland guidance.
We understand that everyone is anxious to get back but at this juncture we are unable to say which venues and services we will be reopening on which dates, but what we do know is:
• For community access to high school sports facilities, the current assumption from colleagues in the City of Edinburgh Council is that the earliest date for community access to resume is October 2020. We will update customers as soon as we have any further information.
• For Edinburgh Leisure venues, we are currently working towards an incremental reopening of groups of venues. However, even when our venues start to re-open, we will not be able to return every activity immediately. It will take time to review how the venue is running to ensure the safe return of all our different customers. As a result, please do not assume any restart dates, venues or activities. We will contact you with further updates and will let you know as soon as we have any confirmation of re-opening for extended lets customers.
• We will contact our Edinburgh Leisure extended lets customers and our community access to High School customers as soon as we have further information.
• As with everything to do with COVID-19 the situation is very fluid and changeable.
Please be assured we are working as hard as we can with the information currently available to plan for the re-opening of our venues. Thank you for your patience during this challenging time.
Please visit our website where we will be posting further information on reopening, as well as advice and workouts to help our customers stay active from home.

Kind Regards

June Peebles