To the management of Eastwood Leisure Centre / Everyman Gym

We are asking Eastwood Leisure Centre to reconsider its current policy requiring all female swimmers to leave the pool at 7:45 pm on Tuesday evenings, ahead of the men’s swimming session at 8 pm.

We fully respect the provision of ladies-only swimming sessions and recognise that some women may prefer to leave the pool before the men’s session begins. This petition is not a request to remove or reduce ladies-only swimming. It is a request to give paying adult members the choice to continue swimming until 8 pm if they wish to do so.

Previously, ladies’ swimming continued until 8 pm, allowing women who were comfortable doing so to swim for the full session. Under the current arrangement, however, all swimmers must leave the pool at 7:45 pm, even if they have no intention of using the showers or changing facilities before the men’s session begins and wait in their swimming costumes for 15 minutes before returning to the pool. 

This creates an unnecessary 15-minute interruption to what is already a relatively short swimming session. Members who wish to continue swimming are left waiting in the changing area, often cold and uncomfortable, before being allowed back into the pool at 8 pm.

We understand that the early closure is intended to allow time for women to leave the pool area and for the lifeguard to be in position before the next session begins. However, we believe there should be a more practical solution that does not require every paying member to leave the pool early.

Adult members should be trusted to take responsibility for leaving the pool by the advertised session end time. Those who wish to leave before the men’s session should, of course, remain free to do so. Those who are happy to continue swimming should not be required to lose 15 minutes of their session unnecessarily.

We therefore ask Eastwood Leisure Centre and Everyman Gym to:

Reinstate the option for swimmers to remain in the pool until 8 pm on Tuesday evenings, as was previously permitted.
Review the current lifeguard arrangements to establish whether a safe transition between sessions can be achieved without requiring all swimmers to leave the pool at 7:45 pm.

We value Eastwood Leisure Centre and want to continue enjoying its facilities. We simply ask that the needs of all paying members are considered and that a reasonable, practical solution is found.

Please treat us as the responsible adults we are and allow us to choose whether to leave the pool at 7:45 pm or continue swimming until 8 pm.

We ask management to review and reverse this policy.

Please join me in signing this petition to make sure our essential community nights remain accessible and enjoyable for all of us.