7:40pm Monday 4th August 2008
By David Paine
PEOPLE using a new sports centre in Worcester will be able to book games of badminton, squash, fitness classes and a crèche by using an online booking service.
The service is available to monthly direct debit members and those with an all-inclusive six-month or annual membership at the St John’s Sports Centre.
Your Worcester News previously reported how the opening of the centre in Malvern Road has been delayed until Monday, September 8, after problems connecting utilities.
However, following a pilot scheme involving 12 regular sports centre users, the new online service – which went live yesterday – also gives members the chance to purchase a wide range of goods from the website’s fitness professional’s shop while a virtual tour of the new gyms can also be enjoyed. Kerry Waite, duty manager and organiser of the pilot scheme, said: “More and more people are using online booking facilities as a tool to help them manage their time. With hectic lifestyles the norm, we hope our online booking service will be widely used by our members.
“The new system received excellent feedback during the pilot and we look forward to expanding this option to other membership categories in the future. During the next phase we aim to roll it out to pay-and-play customers, as well as our members.”
Alan New, Worcester City Council’s recreation business manager, said: “This is the first time a council-owned sports facility in Worcester has offered an online booking service to its members.
“The service really is a must and is part of a whole range of new and exciting technologies we are introducing. We hope that it will be a useful tool to our members and help them to achieve their fitness objectives.”
The online booking service can be accessed at advance leisure.org.uk.
The new St John’s Sports Centre is being fitted with a dance studio, a sports hall, a 56-station fitness suite over two floors, changing rooms and three cutting edge sportwall panels to make keeping fit more enjoyable.
There will also be a bar, an outdoor all-weather pitch at the nearby Christopher Whitehead Language College and a multi-purpose room which can be used for children’s parties, community groups or as a crèche.
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