Aquaterra manages eight public leisure facilities in Islington and seven in Bath & North East Somerset in partnership with the two local authorities. We also work beyond the leisure centres, in partnership with primary care trusts, housing associations, other not-for-profit organisations and councils, to bring the benefits and fun to be had from physical activity to as many community venues, parks and play areas as we can.
As well as traditional leisure centre management and community outreach work, Aquaterra seeks to give individuals the motivation and help they need to make healthy lifestyle choices and achieve long term behavioural change in their approach to physical activity.
Aquaterra is one of the largest of over 100 leisure trusts in the UK. Our not-for-profit status means that all the income we receive goes towards investing in services.
Why work with us
Aquaterra’s business development strategy is to build on existing strong competencies in public health promotion, operational management, IT, social marketing, sports development, gym management and membership services with initiatives that are sustainable, well researched, well costed and well evaluated. We have a wealth of experience operating in partnership with other organisations and understand the need for first class evaluation techniques and evidence-based product development.
The values we aspire to are high quality, equality, energy, innovation, integrity and care. Energy and innovation are particularly important to us. Our managers love this business, and what motivates them is seeing people who perhaps would not otherwise engage in physical activity find companionship, fun, and better health from using our services.
While many of our key people have a solid background in both public and private leisure operations management, we also seek out others from sectors such as retail, brand management, travel, broadcasting and IT, to make sure oxygen and new energy comes into the company when needed.
“I think we are just so lucky to be working with such a fabulous and proactive organisation such as yourselves” Helen O’Keefe, Prevention Manager, Islington Primary Care Trust.
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Facility management
With eight leisure facilities in London and seven in Bath & North East Somerset, Aquaterra has a wealth of experience in facility management in two very different demographic environments.
As well as swimming pools, health and fitness facilities, sports halls, football pitches and tennis courts, Aquaterra also manages three soft play areas, two golf courses, two dual use centres, an ice rink and a music venue.
Some of our facilities are old, some are new, but all are much loved by the people who work and visit them. Independent research show customers are overall very happy as they give us an average of 8.1 out of 10 satisfaction rating in our regular surveys.
All our facilities hold the Charter Mark, the government’s award for excellent public service. All the leisure centres are accredited with Investors in People and ISO 9000, the internationally recognised standard for quality management.
Aquaterra has particular success in involving people with lower incomes through a concessionary pricing scheme that goes beyond the traditional model. We offer concessionary discounts at all times of day, not just off peak. We offer concessionary discounts to people on tax credits, not just the unemployed. We offer discounts to carers, not just disabled people. And we offer concessionary discounts to the dependant children of families on lower income tax credits. We keep our concessionary scheme under review to ensure that it remains inclusive in an ever changing environment.
The average subsidy per visit paid by the local authorities is only 17.9p. This is well below the national median level of subsidy per visit for leisure trusts, showing exceptional value for money to the taxpayer.
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Membership services
Aquaterra offers a membership administration and/or management service to the local authority leisure market. Services on offer include staff training, sales processing, after sales service, marketing support, direct debit collection, membership retention systems, sales systems stationery and support on engaging concessionary and other hard to reach groups.
Current council partners, in addition to Bath & North East Somerset and Islington are Gedling Borough Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Nottingham City Council, North Lincolnshire Borough Council, Amber Valley Borough Council and High Peak District Council.
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Membership retention
Aquaterra work really hard at retaining our members. This is not about the length of membership - we all know people who are members of gyms they do not use. This is about making sure that our customers use our centres regularly and get personal benefit from their visits. So our gym management systems, used in our own facilities and also franchised to other local authorities, are entirely focused around helping individuals set and achieve their own personal objectives in a friendly, non-threatening, supportive environment.
Our systems employ information technology, behavioural change theory and communications training in addition to higher level health and fitness qualifications for staff.
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Bookings services
We offer a service to providers of outdoor sports facilities to manage general bookings and sports development programming. At Whittington Park Football pitches, for example, the facility is managed by Islington Council but the football development programme and the general bookings are provided by Aquaterra.
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Football development
Aquaterra Leisure work in partnership with Islington Council and Arsenal’s Football in the Community scheme under the banner of Gunners in Islington. On behalf of the partnership, Aquaterra employ a football development team to drive the award winning programme.
With over 23,000 attendances at football events managed by the partnership in 06/07 the programme continues to grow every year. The Football 4 Estates coaching project has reduced callouts to the police from 15-20 a day to sometimes zero, and 20% drop in crime – four times the national average for Safer Neighbourhood projects. There is also a girl's development programme in partnership with Arsenal Ladies F.C.
A case study of our Gunners in EC1 programme was published in the Improvement and Development Agency’s publication; Something to Shout About, as a model of good practice for other local authorities to adopt.
Gunners in Islington were awarded Partner of the Year by the London Football Association in 2007.
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Tennis development
Aquaterra’s junior tennis grassroots and development programme was awarded the status of County Performance Accreditation in September 2006, underlining that the programme standards are recognised by the Lawn Tennis Association. Our tennis centre is now working towards National Performance Accreditation.
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Health fairs
We can provide a team of fitness professionals to visit health fairs, community festivals and workplaces to test the fitness of individuals. This would typically include BMI, body fat percentage and blood pressure plus the option of cholesterol testing. Everyone taking part receives a written report of the results and we can also provide advice on local support mechanisms from smoking cessation services to healthy eating information.
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Exercise on referral (EOR)
Aquaterra delivers one of the most well-established exercise referral schemes in the country, whereby registered health professionals refer patients with physical or mental conditions for tailored exercise programmes. Clients with a variety of medical conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes and depression, learn how to exercise safely and effectively, as well as how to achieve psychological behavioural change. By re-educating and supervising participants we aim to empower them to continue exercising regularly and thus benefit from a more active lifestyle.
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MEND
Aquaterra deliver the MEND Programme, which is a free community, family-based programme for overweight and obese children aged between 7 and 11 and their families. The multi-disciplinary programme places emphasis on (M)ind, (E)xercise, (N)utrition and (D)o it! It combines all the elements known to be vital in treating and preventing overweight or obesity in children, including family involvement, practical education in nutrition and diet, increasing physical activity and behavioural change.
With an emphasis on practical, fun learning the programme is designed to deliver sustained improvements in families’ diets, fitness levels and overall health. By following the MEND principles, participants will lose weight naturally and thereby build a foundation for healthy living – for life.
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Medical rehabilitation
We work in partnership with NHS Trusts and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to provide support and prescribed exercise to higher risk populations such as those who are rehabilitating from cardiac events or those at risk of falling. Rehabilitation like this is done in phases. We currently run cardiac rehabilitation phase III, which is a multi disciplinary programme with exercise and education sessions. We also run cardiac rehabilitation and falls exercise phase IV sessions, which mainly concentrates on the activity aspect and improving physical abilities. Some of these are based in the leisure centres and others in community centres.
Our dedicated Active Health team can work with health professionals to develop suitable programmes in leisure centres or community settings in a cost effective manner.
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Community exercise
Aquaterra manage a total of 25 community based exercise classes for older people in Islington. Many of the sessions are chair-based exercise. They help the overall strength of each participant with everyday activities like rising from a chair. We also run more conventional aerobic and resistance classes plus Tai Chi, line dancing and yoga.
The programme started in 2000 with only four sessions per week. Each year since then there has been an increase in the number of sessions provided by Aquaterra. The programme is promoted by EverActive Magazine, an in-house publication that is distributed twice a year to older residents.
Download EverActive
For further information on our Business to Business (B2B) services please contact our Development Unit on 020 7689 9841 or visit contact us.
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