28 Nov 2021
Booking system UPDATE
Dear member
Hello and welcome to Novembers edition of Holmer’s Headlines.
You may remember in Septembers edition of Holmer’s Headlines I mentioned that some of the team were attending a course which refreshed our knowledge of managing swimming pools. I am very happy to report that Richard, Lisa, Stu, Claire and I thoroughly enjoyed the course and are now working behind the scenes to implement improvements to our operations. I am sure you will understand that much of our course was based on hygiene and energy efficiency so I hope you do not mind but to make improvements we will need your help!
Firstly and the single most important thing you can do for us is to shower regularly, particularly before you enter the swimming pool and after you use the Sauna and Steam Rooms. Not only does this mean we will use less chemicals but it means it will help us use less water. This in turn means we do not use extra gas to heat the extra water we have to add. So please may I politely but firmly request that you shower with soap in the changing rooms before entering the pool hall. Good personal hygiene is essential prior to entering the pool water, making sure heads, armpits, genitals, anal area and feet are clean. Good hygiene has a very positive impact on the pool water and air quality, improving the swimming experience for everyone.
Also the next big point was Pool water temperature. We operate our swimming pool at 29.5 degrees and this is at the warmer end of the recommendation of 28-30 degrees. If we were to reduce the water temperature by just 0.5 degrees to 29.0 degrees that would reduce the amount of gas we use by a considerable amount. I am not suggesting at this very moment that we will be doing that but if we all could just cope with that initial “chilliness” until we have warmed up through swimming that would have an enormously positive impact on our environmental impact. Interestingly in other countries such as Germany for example they operate pools at 26 degrees c in some cases. What are your thoughts on that I wonder?
Other key measures are to make sure, particularly children but adults too use the toilet before swimming and that you do not swim if you are poorly especially if you have or have recently had diarrhoea.
The very pleasing thing I am able to report and we have known for some time now is that well managed swimming pool water does eliminate covid-19. Swimming pools are very safe.
If you would like to find out more about how we look after our swimming pool feel free to ask me or you can have a look at some of the information and guidance that we follow on the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Groups website https://www.pwtag.org/
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING WEDNESDAY 8TH DECEMBER We have recently been carrying out electrical testing on the building and this does require some additional works to be carried out. Therefore on WEDNESDAY 8TH DECEMEBER we will be closing the club at 8pm. I am very sorry for this but upgrade works are very important and the only way to do this safely is to prevent access to the club for this brief period of time.
Employee of the month This month I am delighted to say that we have a 3 way tie for employee of the month! Thanks for voting and recognising the great work the team do and how they make positive contributions to your visit.
This month receptionist Helen, Head Housekeeper Jen and Class Instructor Bridgette are our employees of the month! Congratulations to the here of you and thank you for your hard work.
Disruption by weather A reminder that If there is any significant disruptive weather this link https://www.holmerpark.co.uk/news/view/live-updates-due-to-today-s-weather/ will be updated regularly so you are fully informed of any disruption. We take lots of steps to ensure the club operates as normal including our partners at Accugrit spreading salt on the car park when freezing temperatures are forecast as well as our groundskeeper David hoovering leaves from the car park on a weekly basis. Your safety is so important to us and reducing the chances of slips and trips is high on our agenda at this time of year. We also have a link with a local farmer to clear the car park should we have any snow fall.
Booking system UPDATE As you will be aware when we installed our new membership system, the time class bookings opened changed to 12 midnight from 6:30am. This was a limitation of the system that I thought would be generally accepted by you all and although for some of you midnight was much better than 6:30am generally it was seen as a negative change. I am now in a position to share with you the change that we will shortly be introducing and therefore, from the 1st January 2022 bookings will open 2 weeks in advance from 8pm. The waiting list and class banning rules will work in the same way and you can see more information about that at https://www.holmerpark.co.uk/groupfitnessterms/. This has been an extensive piece of work for our software partners which has resulted in changes to how their systems work. I am grateful to them for listening to the concerns raised by you, our members and their willingness to make this change. I hope you will be able to acknowledge that we will never find a time that is suitable for all of you but 8pm seems to be a sensible compromise after taking on board the feedback that we have received over the last few months.
Finally, as always, thank you for being part of the Holmer Park family and should you wish to contact me please email me direct on [email protected]
Kind regards
Steven Chadwick General Manager
PS you can find our Christmas and new year opening times here https://www.holmerpark.co.uk/news/view/christmas-and-new-year-opening-hours/