ukactive and the LGA have issued the following statement today (7 July) on the future of public leisure facilities in the UK.

The pandemic has caused unprecedented damage across society, with the impact of COVID-19 exacerbating already-entrenched health inequalities. The importance of, and emphasis on, population-wide health and wellbeing has never been more pertinent, with community-level access to exercise and physical activity fundamental to our recovery.

Within the Queen's Speech in April, the Government set out its priority to deliver a national recovery from the pandemic: to create a stronger, healthier, and more prosperous society, to level up opportunities, and to assess the impact of the pandemic on public services.

This is an ambition we support collectively, especially given the significant decrease in activity over the past year, but we need to see this ambition being delivered through the actions and interventions that our government makes. The sport and physical activity sector – especially gyms, pools and leisure centres – should be central to this ambition, with fitness activities representing the largest driver of physical activity in England pre-covid, behind walking...

From UKactive.