Glasgow swimming pools still facing disruption since pandemic

While the city’s pools are back in use since Covid restrictions eased, Glasgow Life is continuing to experience issues with operating at full capacity for swimmers due to a lack of staff and applications.

Avid swimmer John McManus says he was told in May that full services could not be resumed due to the shortage, but he feels that things have not moved on since then.

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He is particularly concerned with the issue of people being required to book a slot to go swimming, rather than just turning up.

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John told the Glasgow Times: “After the pandemic we need to look after our mental and physical health and people should be able to get back to a normal routine, but you need to phone up or book online.

“If you just want to go down to the pool, there’s only room available if no one has booked online.”

John has used various pools in the city including in Castlemilk, the Gorbals and Tollcross.

He feels that people who may struggle with technology, such as the elderly and those with mental health problems, could miss out on swimming because of the online system.

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He said: “It’s important for our health after being locked up, and for people who haven’t got access to computers and smartphones and who just want to walk up to a pool that’s not available.”

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A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said: “Much of the UK leisure industry is experiencing significant disruption to services as a result of staff shortages and this continues to be an issue for Glasgow Life.

“We’re doing everything we can to recruit and train staff to address the situation, but there are supervision ratios within all our pools which dictate how many lifeguards we need to have on duty for the number of customers in the pool.

“We run thousands of swim sessions and swimming lessons every week, but at present we don’t have enough lifeguard-qualified staff and Learn to Swim instructors available to operate all our pools at full capacity.

“Offering sessions with a fixed capacity and advance booking, like many other large operators are still doing, helps us to ensure everyone visiting our pools has the best and safest experience possible.

“Our previous recruitment processes have failed to attract sufficient candidates; earlier this year we tried to recruit to fill 30 lifeguard positions and received just 39 applications.

“Swim England has since launched a nationwide campaign to address the shortage of swim staff across the UK, highlighting that around half a million young people could miss out on the opportunity to learn to swim.”

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Despite the concerning lack of applications, Glasgow Life says it plans to make changes in order to recruit more staff and has offered advice for anyone struggling with online booking services.

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The spokesperson added: “We are currently reviewing and adapting our recruitment strategy to maximise our opportunity to attract potential new employees to work for Glasgow Life, whilst recognising that we’re operating in a highly competitive jobs market.

“We anticipate introducing a new rolling recruitment programme for swimming staff in the coming weeks, offering a range of full-time and part-time positions and shifts, and we would encourage any suitable candidates to apply.

“We also recognise that not everyone is able to book online, and so customers can also make bookings and enquiries for swimming and other Glasgow Club activities by calling our venues directly.”