I am pleased that Crouch End Fitness have extended their consultation to allow more time for the active and supportive membership to work with them to secure its long term future.

Membership packages are now open and available online once more and there is more information at Crouch End Fitness online or from the QR code below.  So many of you have told me how important the community, all-ages feel of the YMCA is and for it to survive that love and support needs to be converted into membership.

I also know that there are people who want to support the centre who will find these fees unaffordable or aren’t able to become members themselves.  When I met with the YMCA, I raised the possibility of a Friends of the YMCA group being established and I understand that fundraising and friends group suggestions are being picked up by the members lobbying group.

I remain in contact with the YMCA and member groups and very much hope with everyone’s efforts Crouch End Fitness can be saved.

Monday 13 March

I met the YMCA on Friday following the sad news that they’re consulting on the closure of Crouch End Fitness.

At the meeting, I urged them to extend their consultation process to allow more time for local members and supporters to work with them on a solution that saves the centre.  From my separate meetings with local campaigners, I know how much expertise and willingness there is within the centre’s membership to come up with an alternative plan.

I felt the meeting was positive, and I was pleased that YMCA bosses told me very clearly that they didn’t want to close Crouch End Fitness and recognised how loved it is.  They also said they are looking into extending the community consultation and hope to provide a further update in the coming days after meeting with their Trustees.

Access to low-cost fitness is so important and I’ve been inundated with messages of support for the centre, with so many of you telling me how much you love the community, all-ages feel of the place.  What was clear at the meeting is that the YMCA need this love and support to be converted into memberships.  They told me they’d lost a lot of members since another gym opened nearby and, for the last few years, they’ve been running at a loss which is now unsustainable.

The best way for residents to support the campaign to Save Crouch End Fitness is by joining!  Whilst online registration has closed during this consultation period, they told me you can still join by going to the front desk and chatting to staff.

Sadly, what’s happening at the YMCA is being echoed across the country, and as Chair of the All-Party Group on Swimming I’ve been repeatedly urging the Government to do more to support the leisure sector.  Soaring energy bills have been a desperate blow for centres still financially vulnerable following the pandemic.  They now face bills up to 200% higher compared with 2019 – the last normal operating year – with costs continuing to grow.  This is completely unsustainable, but these closures of affordable leisure centres, leaving only eye wateringly expensive gyms, are terrible for physical and mental health, our NHS, community, and our economy.  In Parliament I will keep pushing the Government to do more.

I hope to receive a further update from YMCA in the coming days, and I will continue to keep residents updated through my website and social media.

Catherine

7 March 2023

I was so sad to hear the news that Crouch End Fitness might be closing.  I’ve asked YMCA for an urgent meeting and have also met with local members who are campaigning to save the centre.

It’s a very tough time for leisure centres at the moment and in Parliament I’ve been repeatedly urging the Government to do more to support the sector.  Soaring energy bills have been a desperate blow for centres still financially vulnerable following the pandemic.  They now face bills up to 200% higher compared with 2019—the last normal operating year—with costs continuing to grow.  Low-cost fitness is vital for health and wellbeing, and it’s the community, all-ages feel of Crouch End Fitness that residents tell me is so important to them.  It’s so important that centres like this aren’t lost and I have been really pleased to see the enthusiasm of members to work with the YMCA to come up with a better solution.

YMCA say no final decision has been made.  I certainly don’t want to see it close, and I hope when they see the strength of feeling locally they’ll rethink.

I will keep residents updated following my meeting, and do drop me a line directly with your own experiences of the centre so I can share these with the YMCA when we meet.