Northampton Virgin Active member may quit as gym children's club limited to under-fives

Virgin Active's decision to restrict its children's group to under-fives has caused a Northampton member to consider cancelling her subscription.

The Riverside Park and Collingtree Park gyms are set to reopen on Saturday (July 25) along with many others across the country after four months of closure for the coronavirus lockdown.

But Club V, which provides activities for kids while their parents work out and a crèche, will be restricted four-year-olds and under despite having no cap before Covid-19.

Virgin Active says the change is in line with government guidance but a parent-of-two, who wishes to remain anonymous, is considering ending their five-year membership at Riverside over it.

"I'm annoyed because it was just slipped in to an email - I had to check on a link to find out that information," they said.

"I'm not going to pay my membership if I can't get my children in as I need the childcare."

Before the lockdown, the member's kids would spend up to five hours a week at Club V while they went to classes.

They said their children used to enjoy going as they would keep them entertained and have fun but that seems to be over for now.

An email from Virgin Active titled, 'Fun for all the family', last week said they 'could not wait' to welcome members back, with a link to further information about family activities, but no mention of the age limit at Club V.

On the website, it says Club V will reopen on Monday for children under the age of five and will not be open at weekends.

"We have decided that due to over fives still requiring a social bubble system over the summer holidays we will currently operate Club V with under fives only, which falls in line with ‘Ofsted early years’ guidance," the website says.

Other members have taken to social media in frustration over a lack of communication regarding classes, the creche and fees.

A Virgin Active spokesperson said: "When we reopen on 25 July, we will initially only be allowing access to children under the age of 5 into our Club Vs, which is in line with Ofsted and Government regulations.

"Children over the age of five must still be kept in small consistent groups which we cannot guarantee in our facilities as we mix the age groups.

"Therefore for now we are unfortunately restricted in the ages we can accept

"As soon as we are permitted to do so by Ofted and government guidelines we’ll welcome all ages back, however we cannot do this until the guidelines change.

"We appreciate the inconvenience this causes however the safety of our members and children in our care is at the heart of everything we do.

"We’ll let members know as soon as we can return to a little more normality."