Kidsgrove Sports Centre

Negative experience: Awful experience here. Enrolled my daughter in swimming lessons, paid online for 4 weeks of lessons. On the day we arrived, nobody around. We found a member of staff walking through reception and she said "they'll let you in a few minutes before" nobody there to give us information. Eventually we went through, my daughter got changed and lesson was supposed to start a 3.45pm. We were let in pool area at 3.47pm then the first instructor told my daughter "you aren't in my group" asked her to go to the next instructor "You're not on my list" she was stood poolside for 10 mins before another member of staff said "she isn't on the list, can you go and sort it out with reception?" I showed her my confirmation email and proof I'd paid and she went back to the 2nd instructor who said "but she isn't on my list" after going back and fourth for a further 5 mins they finally let me daughter in the pool, who was able to swim for around 7 mins before the "30 min" lesson ended. I immediately sent an email to manager requesting a refund for that lesson only, and was told "our system was playing up and her name didn't appear, there will be no refund" That was it, end of discussion, no offer of a free lesson for the inconvenience. Once the other lessons are completed I shall not be back. Their customer service is abysmal. In addition the water is freezing

Positive experience: Freezing in the sports hall. But a nice hall

Fantastic experience: Nice place, lovely pool and reasonable prices

Fantastic experience: We had an Inflatable Birthday Party package with the use of the Studio at the end of September at Kidsgrove Sports Centre and it was fantastic. I couldn’t recommend enough, from being thorough, welcoming and helpful at booking, to the availability of staff and support on the day of the party. It was flawless. Excellent value for money. The Sports Hall and Studio were clean, bright and perfectly functional. The new sports centre renovations are excellent. The kids had a brilliant time, and the venue was perfect for a class birthday party. (My only tiny niggle was being able to get drinking water to make up jugs of juice being in the gym – having to be buzzed in and out, tiny slow tap… but easily resolved, next time bring fruit shoots!!) Thank you for such a great and stress-free experience!

Fantastic experience: Had sons 7th birthday party ,was fab. Staff brill couldn't do enough ,amazing value for money xx

Fantastic experience: Because it's the local Barclays bank hub.

Fantastic experience: I called in to Kidsgrove Sports Centre to enquire about swimming facilities for the disabled. I struggle to walk and gentle swimming is the only exercise I can do. The member of staff I spoke to was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and willingly showed me around. I'm really looking forward to visiting there on a regular basis

Negative experience: No lifeguards therefore no floats and swim for the little ones. Last couple of times the water has been very cold. They need to improve. Grateful for a swimming baths close by but not if it's not open and freezing cold when it is.

Fantastic experience: Great facility

Positive experience: The floats and tots session is NOT for small children even though their website states, "This session is where we isolate the shallow end so that parents and children can play safely." IT IS NOT SAFE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN as they allow a load of teenagers and older children to run riot in the pool, jumping in the so-called "safe" sectioned-off area. A very large 16+ teenager nearly collided with his float into my 5-year-old daughter. If you want your kids to be safe, DON'T VISIT HERE; the lifeguards do not stop them. I wasn't the only parent making this complaint.

Negative experience: Every time I come for swimming lessons. There are 10 /9kids in the little area. They have gone from the bigger area to the little area It feels like they are going backwards in the lessons. The swimming changing rooms floors are filthy, dirt when I went in . Came out of the pool Into the changing rooms 2 staff walk out the floor Is still dirty . Not just a 1 off.. not impressed for a while.

Fantastic experience: Perfect place to go swimming.

Fantastic experience: Granddaughters swimming pool party and party room fantastic staff

Fantastic experience: First time we have been, looks lovely as we had a look round, they do lots of classes but unfortunately for me the ones I would like to do are in the day and I work. We went aqua fit and we really enjoyed it and are going again if we can get in as we would like to go on a weekly basis, but the booking system as changed more as an advantage for the membership customers, but for us membership would cost more as there are no other classes that I would be able to do in the evening as previously mentioned.

Fantastic experience: Nice place to keep fit

Fantastic experience: Really good facility, I can see why it gets booked up so quickly. There is limited parking, but on-street parking nearby.

Fantastic experience: Great facility

Positive experience: Clean and friendly staff

Positive experience: It is fine

Fantastic experience: First class venue for a variety of keep fit activities. Great value for money, very helpful staff and great facilities.

Positive experience: Typical sports centre

Fantastic experience: Very clean and staff are helpful

Fantastic experience: Excellent facilities and a great price. We really enjoy the fitness swim sessions, and have used the sports hall for badminton a couple of times Also easy to book online.

Negative experience: First Impressions were of a smarty revamped building...however things went downhill from there.. As a badminton player I was appauled to see how badminton nets could be purchased that were too small to stretch across the court. The arena is too bright to follow the shuttle and when looking up a you see are the spotlights in the roof... It really needs diffusers on them. Do planners never ask the people who are going to be using the facilities for input? I've just played badminton again.. 7pm No one to about to put counts up.. By the tone anyone arrived, most of the work was done by the players... Didn't start til nearly 7.10.. At 7.50 two assistants walked across the back of the court whist we were playing a rally.. Then at 7.55 we were told 'time up' so now sessions are 45 mins!??? Thoughts. Staff need health and safety updates as thus isn't the first issue I've had with staff walking on the courts during play

Fantastic experience: My grandson has continued his swimming lessons here. Very impressed with staff and building

Negative experience: Would not recommend swimming lessons here. Manager says it can take up to 6 months to pass stage 5. Almost 12 months on, still on 95% same as 5 months ago. Nothing is done to address why this might be or what help might be needed, even after expressing my concerns. They pass one goal then reverse it a few weeks later while we just carry on plodding along and they carry on taking the direct debit. The swimming teachers never monitor the child's progression. My daughter used to enjoy swimming until she came here. It gets disheartening after so many months of trying.

Fantastic experience: Staff are always helpful. The place is always clean and tidy.

Fantastic experience: Attended for a children’s birthday party. They have some good facilities for a local sports centre.

Negative experience: Alright facilities if you can't get anywhere else. Pretty much a youth club after 3pm though with no equipment available and groups of kids on every machine/bench. Not ideal

Fantastic experience: Great community gym, brilliant instructors always made to feel welcome in all of the classes I've attended good gym and swimming facilities

Fantastic experience: Visited this Sports centre to celebrate our grandsons birthday which was held in the swimming pool and afterwards in a large room complete with tables, chairs and excellent sound system to keep lost of kids happy.

Fantastic experience: The staff are really lovely. I needed the pod to get in the pool….. I am so glad for this opportunity.after sepsis. The best leisure centre around.the best disability access as well.10 out of 10

Fantastic experience: Brilliant pool and gym, very welcoming unlike some others gyms. The swimming pool is great I swim a couple of times and week and facilities are clean.

Negative experience: We take our daughter here for swimming lessons. Inadequate changing facilities during these times - nobody uses the lockers, but reserves the cubicles like they're sunbeds on an all-inclusive holiday! So today for example, I dutifully took my daughter's bag with me while trying to watch by the pool entrance and upon returning to the cubicles there was nowhere for her to change. Not always an issue in some places but withvmixed gender changing rooms, people need/want privacy. Nobody enforces the "no outdoor shoes" signs so the floor gets very grotty and sludgy which is disgusting. The area for watching is inadequate as well. I think people must have to get there an hour before to bag a spot, like a parking space on the school run. So while children lounged across the few chairs and people bought entire families, I couldn't watch my daughter swim. I work shifts and most of the time am working on the day her lessons are. As I had the day off work I thought I'd take the opportunity to watch her swim as she was in a new class. I really don't understand why they've opened a brand new facility (albeit within the existing structure of the old building), but why not make some alterations so it's got for purpose? The pool itself is lovely, but the facilities are woefully inadequate and I'd have expected much more. Not "above and beyond" but at least sufficient for what they're offering!

Positive experience: Very clear and knowledge staff happy to help

Positive experience: Its very cheap, £12 for 2 adults & 2 kids for the pool, it's also fully wheelchair friendly. It gets very busy in the evenings, particularly on Fridays where you could have teens taking over the whole pool; not to worry though as there lots of other free-swim sessions. Oh and parking is often an issue.

Fantastic experience: Great facilities and well looked after

Fantastic experience: Been swimming here a few times you can book in advance to make sure you can get a space in the fitness swim and choice your lane slow medium or fast. They restrict numbers to make sure it's not too busy. Clean changing rooms the water is reasonably warm.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant facility, we went to the pool to the fun with mats session, me and both my boys 8 and 4, had the best time. Fantastic changing areas, very clean and well supervised by life guards throughout

Fantastic experience: Lovely clean local pool.

Fantastic experience: So pleased that it has opened back up locally. Excellent facilities, staff very friendly, welcoming and very accommodating if you have any physical impairment for swimming. Car park is nearly always full so obviously very popular.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely fantastic centre. My young son loves going swimming. Staff are kind and welcoming. They're always on hand to answer any queries and offer advice eg tips with my young one in the water. Truly feels like a family environment which in turn encourages me to try new things out . Thank you for all you do

Fantastic experience: Congratulations on your first year. Well done on all your achievements. A lovely friendly environment staff are really helpful and the centre has excellent facilities. An asset to Kidsgrove. The pool temperature is lovely and Aqua with Phil is brilliant.

Fantastic experience: A great sports centre at the heart of the community. Great staff and facilities. The best it's ever been. Well priced day tickets and cheaper if you join. We like the lane swims. Good times available to suit most people's life commitments. Good show.

Fantastic experience: Clean, friendly swimming pool

Fantastic experience: So glad they updated and reopened this place, both my kids have had swimming lessons here, they love it and have progressed very well.

Fantastic experience: Good friendly service by the staff.

Fantastic experience: Nice atmosphere, friendly staff and instructors

Fantastic experience: Bought a year's membership. Very convenient. What I love most is I can book classes swimming Badminton and classes on my phone and plan my week.

Fantastic experience: Second time we have been swimming, staff are friendly and polite, changing rooms are clean. Great for swimming

Fantastic experience: My husband and I were shown around the fantastic Kidsgrove Sports Centre on 13.3.23 by a lovely young man called Zac. He was kind, respectful and very knowledgeable. Well done Zac, we will be joining very soon!!

Fantastic experience: Brilliant staff but pool not very warm

Positive experience: Went swimming with my 3 children and my mum,dad and brother kids loved it and spent all of the time in there me and my dad on the other hand only spent half an hour in there then had to get out cause the water was far too cold for us, my dad is on medication which means he get cold really quickly me im just a wimp lol so I think next we will sit out

Fantastic experience: I absolutely love this facility. The pool is super modern, actually feels easier to swim in, there is low amounts of chlorine and staff are pleasant and helpful. A gem of a place in Kidsgrove

Fantastic experience: Brilliant

Fantastic experience: Fantastic venue!

Fantastic experience: Cute little sports centre, small pool which is popular and fills up quickly. You are able to book lane swims but family swims are not bookable so have to arrive early to get in. Clean universal changing rooms, nice hot showers. No kids pool so can't stay long with babies or toddler as pool is a little cool for them

Fantastic experience: I do Aquafit. Great fun and excellent exercise. The new refurbished Centre ia amazing. All staff are very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Swimming pool excellent. Clean. They provided a hairdryer when asked. Just wish some of those using gym equipment would wipe them down when they have used the equipment. Overall wonderful place

Fantastic experience: A very well equipped gym with cardiovascular apparatus and both free weights and strength machines. Light and airy with a good shower room. Also brilliant swimming pool, early morning lanes followed by public swimming. I've also had really fun table tennis sessions and, I believe, there are badminton courts and, swimming classes and loads of class events on offer.

Fantastic experience: Good place to learn kids how to swim

Fantastic experience: Very well organised and the staff are excellent.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant service from the customer service team excellent staff....

Fantastic experience: A wonderful community fitness venue. Staff have been very helpful and friendly.

Fantastic experience: Staff are always pleasant, the equipment is good, it's always clean, the gym is adequate for health and fitness.

Positive experience: Nice gym however the spinning bikes are a bit dodge at times

Positive experience: Clean and reasonable price….but a little cold in the pool.

Positive experience: My daughter does her swimming lessons here and the facilities are excellent and the staff are really great

Fantastic experience: Excellent.

Fantastic experience: Visited for the first time this morning. The lane swim was busier than I expected but there was loads of room to swim. The building looks really smart and staff were friendly and helpful, pointing out where I had to go. Accepted cash as well still which is certainly becoming harder to find these days. The pool was a nice temperature where you could swim in it but also stand and rest without getting cold. The air temperature in the pool was really warm when you walk in but not noticeable when swimming. The whole experience was pleasant and positive. Will certainly be returning as enjoyed this mornings swim. Did notice that the building is a charity which people have funded to open which is amazing in times like this when the cost of electric and gas are really expensive. Good luck to everyone there.

Positive experience: Yes the facilities are great, and the cleanliness of the centre is outstanding, the diabolical system the centre has decided to use to book swimming lessons and obvious lack of staff training is glaringly obvious. Let me explain: so having a daughter already enrolled at Alsager for swimming lessons we decided to enrol our youngest at Kidsgrove to support the centre. Completed the relevant online forms, grading ability etc which in itself is a bit tricky even for somebody quite literate in modern technology. We eventually received an email saying our daughter was ready to start stage 1 and to contact the centre to be enrolled. We dutifully contacted the reception only for our daughter not to be recognised on "the system" and someone would call us back. This didn't happen. So again we contacted the centre, spent 20 mins rectifying the issue and eventually enrolled my youngest into stage 1 lessons. So, day of her first lesson, I finished work early, got home to an excited child who had her costume on ready with armbands in tow. Drove to the centre, direct debit squared away, got changed and stood at the poolside waiting to be called forward for her lesson. Instructor comes over...."right stage 1, who's ready?" A very excited and happy little girl starts walking off with her new friends and then it happened..... "Exccuse me" comes a tap on the shoulder from what I can gather is the shift manager, "how old is she?" "Oh she's 3" "Yeah she's got to be 4, sorry she can't go in" Obviously this resulted in some choice words, an extremely upset and disappointed child getting changed back into her clothes. The staff knew they'd messed up. I know this is perhaps a one off, access to the date of birth which I inputed when initially filing the forms in was never checked by staff, nowhere in the literature online does it state about the age requirements, I checked. It's a shame as I'd prefer my money to go to a good cause such as the sports centre, but until these issues are rectified and concerns that I know people have had with the centre are addressed I for one will hold off until such time these problems are sorted. We have been swimming there since, one particular male member of staff I have to say is on a bit of a power trip, but other than that just be careful with booking stuff online with the system they are using and lack of training for the staff.

Fantastic experience: Went with friends to watch my goddaughter's swimming lesson. Lovely helpful, friendly staff. Everywhere is very clean and tidy. The swimming pool looks fantastic and my goddaughter is doing very well with the swimming lessons , all the teachers are really nice with the children. Which is so important. Will be going again to watch.

Fantastic experience: I never saw the centre before it closed in 2017, so I can't compare it to back then. But the refurb that has been done, looks fantastic. Nice & modern, with real ease of use of the facilities. Everything looks brand new (well, it is but, y'know). Bottles of sanitizer are kept near the entrance to the gym, along with tissues. So you can take one around with you to clean the equipment after use if you want to. So far, there isn't any major issues I'd like to bring up. But if I was to say one little thing, it's that I wish there was more parking space. Car park is a little too small, and tends to fill up quickly. That is based on the parking at the actual centre itself. If you are able to park on the school car park which is just next door, then, please disregard my comment about the parking :) Other than that, really nice refurb.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic

Fantastic experience: Brilliant facilities, easy access before + after work to facilities + classes if you book in advance via the app. Currently doing Swim lane most morning (6.30am) and gym at weekend. Did Ange's Tabata 6.30am class this morning, definitely NOT the fittest in the class but really enjoyed being pushed to more than I thought I could manage. Also had great gym induction + exercise ideas to help with my joint issues from Sarah

Fantastic experience: Really clean sports centre. Classes and gym and very good suitable for all ages.

Fantastic experience: Went for a swim this morning, lovely facility, great to see it back open. Parking was a bit of a problem as all the spaces on site and around the school were already full at 8:30. Regularly use the sports centre and the classes, really good addition to the local community.

Negative experience: This was the first time I decided to go to the public swim at Kidsgrove sports centre with my four-year-old nephew we got to the centre around 4.20 as the public swim was supposed to start at 4.30, we waited for ten minutes in the queue to go in only to be told there were only four more spaces for the swim this caused my four-year-old to be upset and cry due to being not able to swim. You need to do better at least say how many people you will allow in before the swim or have an online booking system for the public swim, which you don't as on your website and Facebook says to turn up, well just turning up caused disappointment and wasted fuel on a trip to your centre, I think it will be unlikely that we will go back after this and if people ask if they should go, I don't think I would recommend for them to come to hear due to this.

Fantastic experience: Community facility, lovely people, great building, pool and gym.

Fantastic experience: Kidsgrove Sports Centre is fantastic. There are so many thing to do and everything is brand new. The staff are very helpful and every time I go I chat to someone new. It’s got such a friendly community feel too it. I would definitely recommend it.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic new centre loads of classes, lovely swimming pool. Fully equipped gym and the subscription is really good value.

Fantastic experience: Kidsgrove gym is back!! Bigger and better than I imagined. I cannot praise it highly enough. Full selection of equipment on a spacious clean environment and even Peloton bikes included in your membership. The staff were always great and that hasn't changed, they're helpful, knowledgeable and easy to talk too. Highly recommend, and I'm so very happy it's back

Fantastic experience: need some improvements, bust still love sports centre

Positive experience: Amazing place when up an running

Fantastic experience: Grandchildren loved coming here lifeguards very safety aware and I was able to watch my grandchildren from the comfort of the café area such a shame it's been closed.

Fantastic experience: Simply the best, but the corrupt council have closed it so they can get a backhanders when sold off for houses.....shame they don't even own it fully.

Positive experience: This was a good sports centre reasonably priced unfortunately closed down now

Fantastic experience: Great facilities

Positive experience: Shame on the council for their plan to close Kidsgrove Leisure Centre :'(

Positive experience: I like swimming here, the pools are pretty good but the changing areas and showers are a bit cold for my tastes!! The staff are great and the evening swims are not usually too busy.

Positive experience: Plenty of room to swim, with lanes fenced off from the free swim area

Positive experience: Good but tired

Fantastic experience: Nice staff there lovely gym amazing pool

Negative experience: The staff are so unfriendly and miserable and have no consideration for people's time worst staff anywhere