Companies express interest in running Yarborough and Birchwood leisure centres in Lincoln

A number of companies have come forward to express interest in taking over the running of the Yarborough and Birchwood leisure centres.

The two Lincoln facilities closed last week after Active Nation, which ran them for City of Lincoln Council, abruptly stopped trading.

Several sports clubs are now homeless or looking to secure new facilities.

The council has confirmed a number of companies have come forward since then to inquire about taking the running over.

It says it is confident of finding a new provider who will be able to take over and is currently carrying out internal discussions.

Social enterprise GLL, which runs One NK sports centre in North Hykeham, said last week it would be open to the possibility.

Youth football matches have been moved to council-owned fields at Yarborough from the 3G pitches, and the Lincolnshire FA says it is working to support football teams and leagues which have been affected.

Rollerskating group SK8s was forced to cancel its Yarborough events and was looking for a new venue, adding: “We are expecting additional challenges given there will now be a lot of ‘homeless’ clubs and societies.”

Active Nation blamed high energy bills for its unexpected closure last week, which took both staff and customers by surprise.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the council hopes to take back possession of the buildings early this week, once the charity is formally in administration.

Staff are unable to get their possessions from inside the buildings until this is completed.

The petition to save the leisure centres has been signed more than 1,800 times in five days.

The council has confirmed it offered a support package worth around £500,000 to Active Nation in January, but this was declined.

Active Nation broke the news to members on April 3, saying: “We are deeply disappointed by this outcome and would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all Lincoln residents for your support since 2007.

“It has been an honour to serve this community, and we are truly grateful for the trust and loyalty you have shown us over the years.”

A spokesperson for City of Lincoln Council said: “We know that staff have worked incredibly hard to try to keep facilities running during some very tough trading conditions in the leisure industry, and we’d like to express our sympathies to everyone who will be in any way affected by Active Nation’s announcement.

“This is a very sad development, and we would advise all Active Nation customers with pre-paid memberships to contact their bank, card provider or the liquidator/administrator once appointed.”

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