We understand that as an Active North Yorkshire Skipton customer, you may have experienced some frustrations following the recent changes that have been introduced across the service.
We value all our customers, and the recent changes to pricing and memberships have been carefully considered to help us to continue providing high-quality facilities and services in a sustainable way for the future. Our aim is to keep our facilities as affordable as possible while maintaining the standards and experiences our customers expect.
Facilities such as swimming pools are particularly expensive to operate, but we know they are an important part of what we offer, alongside our wider health and wellbeing services. Our services also receive a council subsidy to help ensure that people who may otherwise be unable to access them can continue to do so.
We recognise that any increase in prices or changes to memberships can have an impact, which is why we have worked hard to minimise this wherever possible, while avoiding additional financial pressure on local council tax payers.
Why have these changes happened?
Following the creation of Active North Yorkshire, five former leisure operators were brought together into a single service. As part of that process, we inherited more than 70 different membership types and pricing structures across our sites. To simplify what had become a complex and inconsistent offer, we have developed a new standardised membership structure that gives you access to up to 13 Active North Yorkshire Leisure, Wellbeing and Community Hubs. This change coincides with the introduction of a single leisure management system for all customers.
Why have membership prices changed?
We have adopted a two-tier pricing approach to ensure that our pricing reflects the provision of our offer across the county. Active North Yorkshire Skipton sits within our Tier 1 price level, which allows access to 13 Leisure and Wellbeing Hubs.
What is the ‘Plus membership’
To enhance our offer, we have also introduced our Plus membership, which includes a range of additional wellbeing benefits, including:
- on-demand exercise classes and workouts
- private GP appointments for you and your household
- physiotherapy sessions
- access to qualified dietitians
- 24/7 mental health support
- a 10-day class booking window
- 24/7 access to Active North Yorkshire Northallerton and Thirsk & Sowerby.
Whilst we see the Plus membership as offering excellent value, we are aware of concerns regarding access to classes for all members, given the enhanced booking privilege included. We are therefore taking steps to ensure there is good availability across our group exercise, taking the following steps:
- Review of current programme and increasing capacity/sessions for high demand classes. This is subject to a number of factors, including available studio space, instructor availability, and overall operational capacity.
- Removal of ability to book overlapping classes.
- Cancellation and dishonour policy to effectively manage ‘no shows’ and ensure that classes operate to their maximum potential.
Why have prices increased at Active North Yorkshire Skipton?
We recognise that some members, particularly those with historic arrangements from the former Craven Leisure service, have seen a higher-than-normal increase. This is because some memberships have remained unchanged for many years, and there are significant differences between the legacy membership arrangements we inherited.
Throughout the review, we have worked to minimise increases wherever possible. As a result, our Core, Concession and Corporate memberships have seen a reduction in price. However, due to the scale of the differences between historic memberships and current operational costs, it has unfortunately not been possible to maintain all legacy pricing arrangements while creating a fair and consistent membership offer for all customers.
Booking system issues
We have recently completed the significant task of rolling out a new leisure management system across 16 leisure and wellbeing hubs over the last six weeks. While extensive testing was carried out before launch, it is not uncommon for technical issues to arise when introducing a system of this scale.
We are aware of issues affecting class bookings at Active North Yorkshire Skipton and are working closely with our software supplier to resolve them as quickly as possible. Our teams are treating this as a priority and are implementing fixes as a matter of urgency. At present, these issues are isolated to the Skipton site and are not affecting any of our other leisure and wellbeing hubs.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank our valued customers for their patience while we work to restore normal service.
If you have any questions about your membership, please speak to our team at Active North Yorkshire Skipton. If you wish to switch to a different membership under our new structure, please speak to a member of the reception team.
If you have any further questions about what these changes mean for you or would like to discuss your options, please do not hesitate to get in touch or speak to a member of our team on site.
Thank you
We understand that changes such as these can be difficult, particularly for long-standing members, and we appreciate your understanding as we introduce a simpler and more consistent membership offer across Active North Yorkshire.
If you have any further questions, please get in touch or speak to a member of our team at the centre.
Thank you again for your continued support.
Active North Yorkshire