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18
Jul 2024
New changes announced for Harrogate district leisure centres
Leisure centres in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon, Starbeck and Pateley Bridge look set to be rebranded for the second time in months.
The change will mean new names on signs and staff uniforms as well as a new customer app and web page.
After a strategic review of leisure last year, North Yorkshire Council announced it would bring all leisure services back in-house, as reported by the Stray Ferret.
The services were run by five different operators in the old district council areas prior to the creation of North Yorkshire Council in April last year.
The decision spelled the end for Brimhams Active, the company set up by the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council to run leisure services in the Harrogate area three years ago.
Brimhams Active and all the other council-run leisure operators in the county will be replaced by Active North Yorkshire, a new countywide leisure and wellbeing service run directly by the council.
The new Active North Yorkshire logo.
Brimhams Active signs were put up in Harrogate when the old Hydro rebranded to Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre in September last year.
Other local leisure centres, which include Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre. Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness in Ripon, Nidderdale Leisure and Wellness Centre in Pateley Bridge and Starbeck Baths have also been rebranded under the Brimhams Active banner.
But they will be changed to Active North Yorkshire, according to a council press release yesterday.
The release added the leisure centres would focus more on becoming ‘active wellbeing hubs’ with additional targeted activities to support people managing long-term health conditions.
It said customers at Selby and Tadcaster leisure centres will be the first to become part of Active North Yorkshire from September 1.
Facilities in the former Hambleton and Craven council areas will also change in September.
Services currently provided by Brimhams Active in the Harrogate area and Richmondshire Leisure Trust will move to Active North Yorkshire by spring 2025.
The last phase will see the transfer of facilities and services currently provided by Everyone Active in the former Ryedale and Scarborough council areas in 2027.
A strategic review by the council last year also approved the creation of a leisure investment strategy, which will look at the condition of each site, its future role and sustainability. This triggered fears for the future of the Victorian Starbeck Baths.
Cllr Simon Myers, the council’s executive member for leisure, said:
September heralds the first stage in our exciting plans for leisure services in the county. We are bringing all our services under one banner and we want our facilities and services to be accessible for everyone, so we can help to improve the health and well-being of our county.
As the moves take place over the coming months, services will continue as normal, but customers will start to see the name Active North Yorkshire becoming more visible, a name we hope will become synonymous with sport and active well-being excellence.
The Stray Ferret has asked the council how much the rebranding is estimated to cost.
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