TUN feedback - Sports Centre & Arts Centre

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_{Please note: comments and responses may have been edited. Information was correct at time of response but may have been superseded. We publish the comments in the language in which they have been submitted and the University's responses bilingually.}

24/25 Semester 1

REF: 66-2410-588717 - Yay for Yoga

Your comment: I'd just let to feedback to say how happy I am to see more 'gentle' exercise glasses on at the Sports Centre. It is so nice to see yoga classes at 5:30pm and at lunch time so I can unwind and get some gentle movement in after a long day. Thank you so much for putting these classes on, in particular the Wednesday & Friday 5:30pm yoga classes.

Our response:

Thank you for the positive comments, we are working extremely hard with our tutors and the customers to find the right balance for everyone.

Although our main focus is students and staff, our age range is from 4-84 which challenges us to set a programme to cater for all.

We hope to continue to build on the programme to reflect and compare to our pre-Covid levels over the coming academic year.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to provide good feedback, I will share this with the rest of the team.

23/24 Semester 2

REF: 66-2405-8120517 - Gym Opening Times

Your comment: The gym opening times on the weekend could be longer. Any other public gym elsewhere is normally open until 7/8pm on the weekend, rather than 4pm.

Our response:

Thank you for your feedback. We have experimented with gym weekend opening times before and have trialled longer opening in the past but the take-up was very low so there are no plans to change this at the moment.

REF: 66-2404-412525 - Improving the Boditrax area

Your comment: The Boditrax machine in the sports centre requires you to be barefoot and there is no place you can lean on or sit down on to help you take your socks and shoes off and then put them back on without stepping on the carpet which is very dirty. Could you possibly move any chair close by and have the area hoovered as well?

Our response:

Thank you for your feedback regarding the Boditrax machine in the Sports Centre – a chair has been placed next to it to facilitate changing shoes/socks and the cleaning team has been asked to pay particular attention to this area going forward.

I hope this improves your experience

REF: 66-2403-3870012 - Sport Centre Lockers

Your comment: I would like to ask if the broken lockers in the changing room in the sports centre could be fixed please.

Our response:

Thank you for the email regarding the damaged lockers. We are currently working with the Estates department to complete a feasibility and refurbishment survey of the existing changing rooms. We are hoping to double the size of the space by building out the front which will enable us to redesign the existing internal areas with more efficient use. If the feasibility comes back successful, as part of this project, we will be looking to fit new wall mounted lockers.

In the interim, we are trying to make best use of the lockers, but some parts are no longer available from the company.

REF: 66-2402-1124426 - Desk Treadmills

Your comment: As a final year student this couldn't be implemented in time to help me, but treadmill desks in the sport centre would be incredible for student health; I'm missing out on the exercise I normally do and gaining weight because I have to spend all my time sat down working on my dissertation, but having a treadmill desk available would help a lot with that.

Our response:

Thank you for the email and I appreciate there are adaptations made to home based gym equipment, unfortunately I would not see this as a direction we would support in terms of health and safety. There are benefits that can be used within the apps set on the treadmill consoles for reading work but not for writing. I do think with a little planning, the work and exercise would support each other in a separate capacity rather than trying to achieve both at the same time. Time away from studying to exercise will help you relax mentally along with providing you with an energy, mood and motivation boosts. Remember low oxygen levels reduce our ability to concentrate, physical activity increase the flow of oxygen to you brain and improve concentration levels when you get back to studying.

23/24 Semester 1

REF: 66-2305-5505603 - Water Machine Fixed

Your comment: Water machine in the entrance of the sports centre is rubbish! So slow to fill bottles, and I have to press 4 times to fill my bottle completely. Additionally, the water is regularly warm.

Our response:

Thank you for the email - there was a fault with the amount of water that is being purified through the filter and internal mechanism at the moment. We can now confirm the water machine has been fixed.

There is also a second vending machine on the first floor gym adjacent to the fire exits that is fully operational.

22/23 Semester 2

REF: 66-2303-3356006 - Sports Centre Opening Hours

Your comment: Opening Hours of the Sports Centre. I'm not sure if this is the right place to raise this, but the Sports Centres opening hours are very limiting to students. I've regularly visited the Sports Centre for a year and a half and really appreciate the new equipment. The chances to use it all optimally are limited as peak times get very overcrowded. Additionally, on Saturdays and Sundays, when the gym closes at 4pm already, those of us who have to work have almost no chance of getting a workout in. Having talked to other students about this, I know I'm not the only one with these issues. Lately with the gym being closed on most holidays, students are denied completely what is a major recreational factor for many, important for the overall quality of life, mental health and performance. I want to mention here how amazing and friendly the staff are. Generally Aberystwyth Sports Centre has a beautiful, inclusive atmosphere. The opening times are really the only issue and I was wondering if you thought about extending opening hours for the above mentioned reasons.

Our response:

Thank you for your feedback.
The new gym refurbishment has been incredibly popular and enabled us to increase the numbers per session from 35 to 85 per hour which has resulted in an increase of 6300 additional visits in Feb 2023 compared to Feb 2022. Inevitably there will be peak periods where some of the equipment isn’t immediately available but we have purchased extra units of kit to help mitigate this as much as possible. We also have the Sgubor min-gym which is located at Fferm Penglais and is open 24 hours a day that all residential students can access.

We have been working to extend the offer over the holidays, during the Christmas period 2022, we were open on the 29th/30th of December, we are also looking to extend this further with additional opening days at Easter and during some bank holidays.

It’s great to hear that the staff are appreciated!
With regards to opening hours, for many years we operated between 9 am-9 pm on weekdays and 10-4 pm weekends. Over recent years the request by students and the community has always been to open earlier rather than later so we have extended open hours to 6.30 am on weekdays and 8/9 am on the weekends. Our times are replicated by the leisure centre and other gyms in town due to the lower demand for late afternoon gym sessions, making it financially unviable to open. Further to this, due to the Pandemic, the leisure industry is struggling to provide/employ enough qualified staff to work within the industry generally because leisure centres were completely closed for 18 months and no new staff were trained during this period. This is adding further pressure to the core staff to cover the existing operational hours, it is important for our staff and their well-being that we provide adequate breaks away from work for staff to recover.

22/23 Semester 1

REF: 66-2209-250228 - Sports Centre Membership

Your comment: I am currently looking at sports centre membership, as I am no longer living in university accommodation. I thoroughly enjoyed using the swimming pool last year. I have calculated that, if I purchase the 135 membership, I would need to swim 3 times a week, every week until June, to cover the cost of the membership. I am very happy to pay for each visit individually, but it occurred to me that it might be worth raising the idea of offering membership options with access to only specific sports centre facilities for a cheaper price. Obviously I don't know whether this option has been ruled out in the past, but I feel that it would be of benefit to a lot of students. Thank you :)

Our response:

Thanks for the email regarding the £135 deal which offers unlimited access to all areas.

We historically offered individual gold memberships for the pool, gym, classes and climbing, however, this heavily disadvantaged students that were wanting to use areas that saw a smaller footfall. For example, the gym (gold membership) would have 500 visits/users per day whereas the climbing wall would only see around 30-40. This resulted in the climbing (Gold) package being a lot more expensive than the gym package. There was lots of subsidising across facilities which made it very difficult to justify developing projects/areas in isolation. To cover the planning and overheads, and offer a great value for money package, it was agreed to simplify the membership categories and offer access to all areas for the price of what one gold membership would have cost. This increased the number of Platinum members joining hence you can now access all areas for £135. Prior to the introduction of the Platinum membership in 2017, a swim only gold would have cost £120.

We review/compare the market rates for other Welsh universities year on year and can confidently state we continue to offer the best value for money when it comes to sport, health and wellbeing.

The calculation below shows the cost if you visit the pool (PAYG) 3 times a week.

£3.50 per visit x 3 = £10.50 per week x37 weeks = £388.50

FYI - if you swim once a week @£3.50 until the end of term (June 2023), you will have paid the cost of the Platinum membership. If you purchase the £135 deal, obviously you could swim every day and have the options to use the gyms, classes, climbing wall and access to the track.

I hope this helps to show we are offering great value for money for all students using the wide range of facilities offered.

21/22 Semester 2

REF:66-2203-8757106 - Lockers in changing rooms

Your comment: Can the swimming changing rooms open up the lockers again please?

Our response:

The poolside lockers have just been reopened as a consequence of the Covid restrictions being released.

21/22 Semester 1

REF:66-2110-4959828 - Treadmilll top speed

Your comment: If possible, could you increase the treadmills' top speed in the gym to 23km/h? i have a passion for sprinting but it is impossible to sprint fast enough on the treadmills as the machines aren't fast enough. Thanks!

Our response:

Thank you for the TUN email regarding the use and speed of the treadmills, I have inspected the treadmills (all 14) and these are set to a maximum capacity of 24.1kph. We also have the Matrix Fitness S-Drive Performance Trainer on site which enables you to sprint to your maximum capacity as a runner and offers a more natural form or running in that the belt responds to your power/drive from each foot placement which means you can reach top-end instantly where using the treadmill takes 10-15 seconds to reach maximum speed.

I have linked to a good video showing how to maximise speed and performance using the S-Drive. Please skip the you tube add: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6DPYtx3TCg

If you would like further information on the equipment please let us know

20/21 Semester 2

20/21 Semester 1

REF:66-2012-759103 - Temperature in swimming pool
Your comment: The water in the pool is always very cold please can it be warmed up especially when it is so cold outside. It makes it hard to swim for very long

Our response:

The swimming pool hall and changing rooms are maintained to a pre-set temperature and have the correct number of air changes per hour, as par the guidelines for safe operation of swimming pools. Recommendations for pool water and air temperatures are put in place from guidelines from the National Governing Body (NGB) for Swimming Pool Management (PWTAG) and HSE guidelines.

Each type of swimming pool is listed with a recommended temperature range. These pools range from Competitive / Fitness / Training Pools, to Recreational Pools to Leisure Pools, Children’s Teaching Pools, Babies, Young Children Pools to Hydrotherapy Pools and finally Spa Pools.

We operate the pool at the university at the Recreational swimming pool temperature, which has a guidance range of 27 – 29 degrees. The pool is kept to a temperature of 28 degrees and monitored along with water chemical levels six times a day. Monthly testing is also carried out by an external contractor to ensure we follow these strict guidelines, and provide a safe environment for our swimmers.

Some operators may move towards higher temperatures, and leisure swimmers would like this warmer temperature. However, fitness and competitive club swimmers would find them uncomfortable and too hot.
Higher temperatures can also create a number of other problems with in the pool water and hall. These range from and include:
Therefore this is why we operate at the Recreational level within the NGB guidelines. It’s to ensure optimum water temperature for the pool and the varied sessions we offer to our students, staff and community members.

REF:66-2011-1636804 - Rowing machine in gym

Your comment: Please could you put a rowing machine in the mini gym on fferm campus, so when it opens people from the rowing club can go there. thank you

Our response:

Thank you for the email regarding the Hub Gym. At present we have not allocated all the equipment to the gym due to the government guidelines and restrictions in place for Covid-19. We can certainly review the layout and include a rower once current restrictions return to some form of normal operation. We do all have access to the rowers within the main gym provision on campus.

19/20 Semester 1

REF:66-1910-3593315 - Privacy in the gym

Your comment: please add frosted glass to the window between rooms in the gym upstairs as when on the treadmills people just stare at you when on the other machines or whilst filling up their drink

Our response:

We have rearranged the gym equipment in the light of Covid-19 to ensure social distancing and now there is more privacy from onlookers