Matt Green General Manager at Dartmouth Leisure Centre
Matt Green has been in charge of Dartmouth Leisure Centre for just over a year. During this time, the number of people taking out memberships has gone up and the number of children having swimming lessons has increased from 50 to 145. He says it’s all to do with having a great team at the centre, making the most of social media and, most importantly, getting out into the community. Steph Woolvin met him for a chat in the instructors’ staffroom…
O
ver the past two years, there have been a lot of changes at the leisure centre including
a new pool, a new reception area with electric turnstiles, brand-new gym equipment and there are more changes to come with a self-service café due soon. Matt’s main roles are helping the business grow, taking care of health and safety and making sure his man- agers are effectively dealing with the day to day running of each centre. He has three senior staff members in each; a wet operations manager, in charge of anything pool related; a dry operations manager, looking after the gym, classes and the sports hall, and a customer relations manager. As the leisure centres are run by Fusion (a registered charity with 90 leisure centres across Britain) they don’t have to worry too much about branding or big marketing campaigns, as these are all arranged centrally. Fusion runs Dartmouth’s main centre on behalf of South Hams Council and it runs the swimming pool on behalf of Dartmouth Pool Trust. The pool has been open for a year and a half now and numbers are slowly starting to grow including pupils from Dartmouth Academy that visit each week. They also have aqua aerobics, family float sessions at the weekends, lane swimming and children’s lessons which have proved very popular! “Since last year, num- bers within our swim school have increased from 50 to 145, however there is still work to do. It’s amaz- ing how many people I speak to in Dartmouth still don’t realise we have a swimming pool. We are trying hard to get the word out there through social media, local events, door drops and word of mouth. It’s important we teach children how to swim from
an early age, especially as we live so close to the water.” Matt has been in the leisure
industry most of his working life. Managing Quayside Leisure Centre in Kingsbridge for five years, he then moved across to the other side of the water to work for the TLH hotel group. In 2017 he took over as general manager at Dartmouth Leisure Centre and shortly after he was asked to run Quayside as well. Matt says he feels very comfortable in the sporting industry and has always been active – with football, rowing and running being his favourite sports: “I used to be part of the Paignton Rowing Club and took part in the South West Rowing Championships on a number of occasions.” Now he runs and goes to the gym - he doesn’t have far to go from his office to the treadmill! Dartmouth Leisure Centre opens at 7am Monday to Friday and 8am
“The leisure centre looks very different to this time last year.”
at weekends and Matt says they get quite a few people coming through the doors early before work. “It is hard creating the timetables as you have to make sure you are taking into account ages and abilities, whilst striking the right balance. People wanting quiet lane swimming don’t want children splashing and climbing on and off huge floats, but equally we need to make sure there are enough activities for families.” Their most popular classes are spin- ning and body balance and they have a range of ages attending both. Matt says the instructors are as important as the class: “We work hard to make sure
all our staff are happy and motivation- al. An instructor can make or break a class. I think a lot of people buy into the instructor as much as the activity. If they get a good following and leave, or move to a different class, people will follow them.” In the sports hall they have a varied
programme that includes: badmin- ton, hockey, football and basketball. They also utilise the space by hosting birthday parties organising the whole package, from the invites to party bags and even a bouncy castle – all of which is proving very popular. The centre also hosts swimming parties. The leisure centre looks very
different to this time last year. Early in 2018, a covered walkway was built linking the swimming pool with the main reception. Before the new entrance was built, visitors had to go in to reception to pay, then return back outside to enter the pool. Now there are electric turnstiles leading through a corridor and viewing area where parents can watch their children through the glass. There are also plans to revamp the seating area in the reception with more vending machines selling hot drinks, creating more of a café atmosphere. Currently, this area is just used for people wait- ing for a friend or a class to start. Just this month all the equipment in the gym has been replaced and Matt says anyone who hasn’t been in to see the centre should come and take a look at their industry leading equipment: “With the new gym, our popular exercise classes, pool and sports hall we have something to suit everyone. We are happy to show people around without any pressure. We have a range of great value memberships available, but the centre is also open to the public on a pay as you go basis.”
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