Wakefield Council to change prices at its Aspire sports centres and swimming pools across the district

The brand new Activate scheme is designed to support residents that are in receipt of Universal Tax Credit.

As part of the new scheme, a family of four can attend public swimming sessions for £6.90. Individual adults will also be able to attend public swimming sessions for just £3.40 and children for £2.

Similar discounts will also be available for gym and class programmes.

The council is also introducing two new discounted membership options, which include an increase in the age limit for the young person’s discount – meaning even more young people can benefit and a new rate to support those on lower incomes.

The Young Person’s membership is for people aged between 11 and 24 and is priced at £16. All members aged between 11 and 24 will be automatically moved on to this new rate.

The Activate membership is also priced at £16 and is designed to support residents that are in receipt of Universal Tax Credit – saving £9 on a current adult membership.

There will be a slight increase in the monthly payments for other existing memberships, but the council says this will be kept to a minimum, including just a £1 increase per month for Over 65 memberships.

Coun Michael Graham, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport, said: “Our standard memberships will see a slight increase in price from April due to the increase in our running costs. But we have done everything we can to keep these as low as possible.

“This small increase will make a huge difference and help us keep our leisure facilities open and ensure those who might be struggling financially can still come to our centres.

“We must raise income ourselves to continue to run our vital services, due to chronic underfunding from the Government, the massive rise in inflation and huge running costs for our pools.

“Now more than ever, we need our services to be affordable and stay open and provide the essential services that residents need during the cost-of-living crisis.”

The energy costs of running the Wakefield district’s leisure centres could be as high as £1.9m in 2023/24 which is almost four times the cost compared to 2021/22.

The new membership offer will come into force on April 1 2023.