an independent view for the leisure industry
Edition number 71; dateline 4 April 2013
GreenSpace closes its gates
GreenSpace, the charity that offered a focal point for the promotion of parks and open spaces within the sport, leisure and culture sector, has ceased trading 12 years after it was founded. A statement issued by GreenSpace and signed by Michael Rowan, the chair of trustees, and chief executive Paul Bramhill announced the end of GreenSpace, citing “devastating budget cuts to local authority funds” and “the reduction in government grants” as factors in the organisation’s failure. “GreenSpace has relied on membership and grants and therefore it too has been hard hit,” they explained. “It is with great regret that due to this reduction in funding we have to announce that the charity GreenSpace will shortly cease trading.” The charity was scheduled finally to close on 2 April, having had a few weeks following the issuing of the statement to “identify organisations that want to take on any or all of its assets or intellectual property”. The news took many within the sector by surprise and trustees of the charity will be facing questions from members and supporters regarding how the charity was managed in recent years. The departure of GreenSpace from the roll-call of leisure organisations will leave parks with no dedicated champion at a time when urban open space is again under threat from ongoing budget cuts.
Precor follows you home
Gym users who relished their time on the treadmill as a way to escape the phone may be disturbed to learn that Precor has unveiled a range of new features for its Preva system which includes Preva Mobile, an iPhone app that enables users to log in and track their physical activity output wherever they may be. Precor’s promotional material promises a brave new world of athletic endeavour: “Exercisers can capture their activity from anywhere in the world, including other fitness activities such as swimming, playing sport, group classes or outdoor activities, such as hiking or even walking the dog.” Whether this new system increases the possibility of exercisers giving the gym a wide berth once they realise that they can get fit from simply walking around is a moot point but Precor is confident that Preva Mobile will add to the “25 million workouts logged worldwide” since the Preva platform was launched in 2010.
Breaking new ground
Always The Leisure Review’s favourite trade exhibition, largely owing to the its twin unique selling points of a river trip to its front door and a properly functioning beer tent, IOG SALTEX will be bringing its splendid mix of lectures, conference sessions and earth-moving machinery to Windsor racecourse 3-5 September. As readers reach for their diaries, they may also care to have a glance at www.iog-saltex.com where almost every detail of the show and its exhibitors can be found in all their glory, all under the heading of ‘Breaking new ground’, which has made us look forward to this year’s show even more. Anyone who would like to be part of the TLR editor’s tour of the show are invited to email the editor with an expression of interest.
COMPASS gets new navigators
COMPASS, the trade association for organisations that sell coaching services to schools, have appointed a new board for 2013/14 with a surprise but well-known name at the head of the table. Linda Plowright of Sports Leaders UK takes over from founding father Gareth Lippiatt and will be assisted by vice chair Dean Horridge in her quest to develop the nascent association.
Medic! BUCS proposal causes widespread swooning
The offices of British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) have been picketed by students from a number of the nation’s foremost medical schools. It seems the protestors are unhappy with the proposals from BUCS, the body responsible for the running of student sport, which may force formerly independent institutions to choose from two options regarding how they compete on a Wednesday afternoon. The BUCS statement about the situation goes on at some length, as well it might given the fact that consultations have been ongoing since 2010.
City festival launches
The annual City of London Festival has announced its full 2013 programme which is “promising once again to animate the Square Mile with its customary extravaganza of music, dance, art, film, poetry, family and participation events”. The festival uses some of the City’s most celebrated venues and outdoor spaces to support creative activity, all of which festival director Ian Ritchie has themed as “city walls”, “conflict and resolution” and the rather less abstruse “trees”.
News in brief
Staccato reports from the cultural typeface
Saturday/Sunday 13/14 April
David Blunkett says that the Labour party should not be indulging the “resentful and selfish public sector”, while the Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition at the disgraceful British Museum is packing in the fee-paying public. With Baroness Thatcher not yet in her grave, there is one last hurrah for one of the defining images of her age: football violence makes a comeback in Newcastle after the Tyne-Wear derby and at Wembley during the FA Cup semi-final featuring Millwall; that Sunderland’s new manager is a fascist is not in any way relevant. Andrew Marr blames his stroke on high-intensity exercise and Justin Bieber stirs controversy by being a 19-year-old idiot, which, to be fair, is in line with his job description. Reptiles, insects and an otter are among the fatalities after a fire at the Five Sisters zoo in West Lothian.
Monday 15 April
At Anfield Liverpool fans and others mark the 24th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. Sports minister Hugh Robertson enters the spirit of the Thatcherite throw-back by saying that the authorities should “throw the book” at those involved in recent football violence. Two bombs are exploded at the finish line of the Boston marathon, killing three people and injuring many more.
Tuesday 16 April
The Onassis family have sold Skorpios, their private Greek island, for £100 million. The IMF says that the chancellor’s economic policies are on the wrong track, which is akin to Father Christmas telling the tooth fairy that her generosity is getting out of hand. The 2013 women’s prize for fiction is declared to have a “staggeringly strong” short list. London Welsh will leave the Premiership with debts of £4 million after their single-season experiment in the top division. On Planet Football fans are complaining about a late kick-off for the FA Cup final, which will mean that supporters may miss the last train home; the FA keep their fingers in their ears shouting “La la la” loudly.
Wednesday 17 April
Farewell then, Margaret Thatcher; we can only hope we shall not see your like again.
Thursday 18 April
Sir Chris Hoy announces his retirement from cycling. The Parliamentary public accounts committee warns that we are in danger of wasting the enthusiasm of the London 2012 volunteers. Marin Alsop will this year become the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. The Maze prison is to be reinvented as an international peace centre following the granting of planning permission for the development.
Friday 19 April
Tickets for the athletics meet scheduled for this summer in the Olympic stadium sell out in 75 minutes, while Tate Modern announces a Matisse season for next spring. A new phone app will allow the public to report racism in a football context, whether as players or supporters. Mike Denness, former England Test captain, dies aged 72; so too Storm Thorgerson, album cover designer, aged 69.