Blandford Leisure Centre

Fantastic experience: Really good I don't know why everyone is complaining in the reviews.

Fantastic experience: Nice place staff helpful

Negative experience: The place is very dirty, with doors covered in sticky marks that seem to have accumulated over ages. Be cautious with their charges: I paid £45 for the first month, but 20 days later, they automatically charged me £60 without notice. Their billing practices are suspicious, and their math around charges seems questionable. I wouldn’t recommend this gym for personal use. It’s overpriced for the quality they offer, and they appear to engage in deceptive practices with direct debits.

Negative experience: Booked for a public lane swim. Get there, all the lanes are full to the brim, due to swimming lessons taking place. Obviously I don’t want to be the only one that just randomly gets in the pool when they’re having lessons. So felt a bit uncomfortable. Was completely ignored at the front desk by the staff. Waste of my time and money. Ended up just walking out. Disappointed. Will not be returning.

Fantastic experience: A well equipped gym with all the usual isolation machines. Comprehensive free weight area with Smith machine, squat rack etc. Only one minor criticism…machines that break down take ages to get fixed. Update: the gym has recently been equipped with new machines!

Positive experience: Pleasant, helpful staff. I only use the pool and changing area, which is generally in good order.

Negative experience: Clearly states that they are open on Sundays until 17:00. Drove here 35 minutes and they’re closed. Complete waste of my time.

Positive experience: Small but friendly and welcoming .

Negative experience: Disappointing and Dirty. We’ve lived in the area for many years and this used to be a good place to take the children. It’s got worse each year and today we were told we couldn’t use the main pool then come over to the kids area, despite this being fine yesterday. The pool wasn’t busy at all and the manager was rude and aggressive. The water features are never on at convenient times for families and the water slide is open for an hour on Saturday and Sunday. Such a shame.

Positive experience: Thought at the ripe old age of 64. I would finally learn to swim properly. Glad I booked blandford.

Negative experience: I love coming to classes here ..but now they r pushing the class numbers up and its not good .the class isnt big enough.. I dont relax or de-stress ...the atmosphere in class is horrible as no space to do have the exercises you need to do its redicous..being moved to other rooms that have to have equipment moved out first ,eats into the class time .i need to be able to stretch my body out which destress my lupus ,heart failure and all things that i suffer with ..so i am seriously thinking about packing up my membership and going to pimperne or else where ...it is not the trainers / instructors as they r only doing their jobs.. i feel more stressed out after the class .this would have had 5stars if it wasnt for this ..

Positive experience: Good bits- Very welcoming. Really good size pool, lots of room for everyone to enjoy the water regardless of age and/or level. Execptional staff, polite and attentive. Flip-side. The disabled changing area was shocking. Dirty, rundown and in desperate need of renovation. Having a 'space' is not enough. It needs to be clean and fit for purpose.

Negative experience: Absolutely fuming. I've been bringing my daughter swimming at Blandford for around six years now and we've always had a great time. Today, was I massive let down and the attitude of the staff member I spoke with was, frankly, awful. Not once during the last six-plus years have I been told we couldnt move between pools. Contrary to the view of the member of staff (didn't get his name but a gentleman with grey hair), it's also NOT made clear that you can't move pools on the app. It does, to be fair, state it's in the training pool, but not that you can't move pools. Why would I think otherwise when we've moved back and forth every time and never once been stopped until today?!? Others were moving between them, no problems. His attitude of 'you've have an hours use' and 'if you've been going between pools previously then you've had that for free' is shockingly poor service. He then had the audacity to tell me I could email him to pass to his manager (who I'd asked to speak with) but that 'she won't give you a refund'. Talk about how to make a complaint worse?!? No apology, uncaring, dismissive and defensive. Basically 'tough luck pal, we have your money'. As someone that coaches complaint handlers in the private sector, I can assure him it's absolutely unacceptable and not the way to defuse any complaint. I won't be back, that much is for sure. Anyone asks what I think of the centre? Guess what...I won't be exactly full of praise. A good reputation is hard to earn, but very, very easy to lose. The ropey experience in the pool is one thing. The attitude of thiss staff member is quite another. Awful experience.

Fantastic experience: Excellent, friendly centre

Positive experience: The facility itself is well maintained but it is very odd that you cannot access both pools when paying for swimming. We like our pre-school kids to practice laps and have a play. Having to choose between the main and kids pool is a shame.

Fantastic experience: Lovely session in the training pool for a family swim with my baby, pool is warm enough for little ones

Negative experience: Awful gym. Outdated equipment (seriously like 15-20 years old) that frequently breaks and is unsafe to use in some cases. Not enough space to exercise safely, gym often becomes over crowded, probably because theres about 12 running machines in a small gym. A lot of passive aggressive cider bumpkins who think because they have been going there their whole lives that they own the place. Used to having their own way and are noisily dissapointed when they dont get it. Unreasonable opening hours, especially on the weekend (4pm clsoing on a Sunday!?) Enjoys a monopoly in the town and council funding so doesn't seem to be a drive for change. When I have brought up safety concerns to staff they are just met with a shrug 'that's just the way of things'. Small town mentality. Wouldn't fly in the city. Glad I don't live here.

Negative experience: Went for a swim with members of my family tonight including my disabled mother who is just starting to get back into swimming. A gentleman complained to the front desk about her lack of swimming which in turn the manager took it upon himself to tell my mother to leave the pool as she could not swim a length of the pool. I understand the lane swims have to be constant swimming however we were in the slow swim part of the pool which did not have separate lanes. We have visited multiple times before in the past and have never once been brought up on any issues being in the pool. Myself, my partner, my sister, my brother and also my nephew all paid to use the pool separately and were swimming with accordance with the rules of the pool. My mother has low mobility and was moving towards the side of the pool away from other swimmers and was not in anyone's way or disrupting the swimmers. It is completely unacceptable the way she has been treated and I am so saddened to see my mother so upset at how she has made to feel about her disability. We will not be returning again and will follow though with further action moving forward.

Negative experience: Would give no stars if I could avoid this place if you are disabled or gave low mobility went this evening with my mum who is disabled and struggles to exercise so she stays in a corner out of everyone's way to get what little exercise she can has done numerous times in the past and never been an issue before tonight though was different as someone complained about her and the manager decided to talk to her in the pool infront of everyone there where others at the edge of the pool talking and relaxing but nothing was said to them my mum left the pool in tears feeling they have discriminated against her because of her disablement we will be taking things further as this was not on if there was an issue with her staying in one corner the receptionist should have said something before we made it into the pool but nothing again they need re training so does the life guard that was on as he should have said something as well disgusting behaviour they should be ashamed with the way they handled it

Negative experience: Booked swimming for my children during the Easter break. The pool was absolutely freezing, so much so that we left early with chattering teeth! It was not a pleasant experience as I was hoping for. Completely disappointed and I shall not be returning!

Negative experience: A leisure centre with hundreds of pictures of children but no pictures of the outside of the leisure centre itself ? Not sure what to make of this.

Negative experience: Booked a half court to play basketball. Called at 3 o’clock and they said we’d have to go down at 6. paid for it and all. got there at 6 n because people booked badminton on the other courts after we had booked they said we can’t play because we’d ruin their badminton games. said we should’ve come on a weekend instead because it was inconvenience to them and the badminton players

Negative experience: Not the best place if you're after weight lifting equipment!! The majority of it is old and rusty and it's a very small workout area. annoyingly, it's always full of kids and teens hogging up the weights section in groups. ‍♂️ Management really need to assess this as you can't get on any of the machines or benches. unfortunately this is the only gym In the Blandford area.

Fantastic experience: Granddaughter swimming lessons - excellent

Negative experience: No good if you have children of different ages. You can only use one pool or the other unless you pay for entry to both the baby pool and normal pool. My older child was not impressed when we were told because we had been in the baby pool we were unable to use the big pool. Wouldn’t have been issue if we knew that was the case as we would have gone straight in the main pool.

Positive experience: Good football team ⚽ they beat us 5-0 in the finals

Positive experience: Since writing the original post (⭐️⭐️) a few things have improved. The cleaning has stepped up a notch, the showers (those that are working) are warm and there is some new kit in the gym. Small moves, but there are enough people using it to warrant the updates and cleaning. Good work! Props to the staff for keeping on top of the cleaning etc. If they manage to replace the carpets then the whole place will have a new lease of life.

Positive experience: I have been using the gym for several years now, and am very happy there. I would say, however, that some gym equipment is looking a bit tired. It is easy to park, and the changing rooms are usually very quiet, with several showers. The pool is nice and clean, the kiddie's pool is lovely, and the tub is great when switched on, and the sauna is good too. I think there could be more food on offer, such as sausage rolls and sandwhiches. The staff are friendly and welcoming. All in all a very good local facility.

Positive experience: Facilities are OK, a working Sauna! Swimming pool too narrow, when using lanes there is not enough room for 3 lanes e.g..S/M/F. The changing rooms are a bit odd, some outside cubicles and some separate M/F changing facilities. My biggest issue is the floor tiles in the passageways are extremely slippery, it's a real safety issue. Free car park and level access to the entrance.

Positive experience: Only used the pool but that's pretty good, especially for slow lane swimming. Changing rooms could do with the makeover though

Fantastic experience: Good

Positive experience: I play badmington in their sports hall, but the lighting is not great compared to other spots hall and it's more expensive than other local facilities.

Positive experience: Very friendly staff,easy parking, they particularly handled the Covid return by booking app. very well

Positive experience: Its very pricey, but with covid still going on i get it. Horrible website for booking though even trying to find the local center timetable is a struggle. But you can turn up at the desk and if there is space you can get in that way. The family swim should be slightly longer instead of 50-60 mins allocated and I wish they would turn the pumps on for the sprinkler/waterfall effect in the kids pool ,which I mite add is a nice temperature for the younger kids.

Fantastic experience: Well organised

Fantastic experience: Lovely leisure centre and a great family swimming session! Nice touch that you can bring your own inflatables...would definitely visit again!

Fantastic experience: Daughter really enjoying swimming lessons, staff always helpful

Fantastic experience: Good gym, but I saw some lunatic on the treadmill had put a bottle of water in the Pringle's holder

Positive experience: They are doing very well

Fantastic experience: Excellent leisure centre. Been using it for 15 years. Now my girls have swimming lessons here highly recommend. The swimming teachers are fab.

Fantastic experience: Daughter loves her swimming lessons here

Fantastic experience: Great to be back swimming again, the pool is exceptionally clean and the staff are very friendly. Really well set up for social distancing.

Fantastic experience: Nice to be able to swim again

Fantastic experience: Very friendly and well run

Fantastic experience: Lovely place, first time during lock down, was told by reception the rules, which where long and hard to remember and warned not to worry if I got told off for doing something wrong. However, everyone including the life guard was so friendly, all getting used to the new rules of social distancing. Plenty of space in the pool, but you need to prebook. Overall lovely friendly atmosphere here.

Positive experience: hitting the gym seems to be easy and good instruction

Negative experience: We have been coming here for 5 years since my son was born and have a consession card. We arrived for 'Wet&wild' session where I was told by the duty manager that this was not valid for the session. I explained how it had always secured the agreed consession. He asked 2 other members of staff to verify this; which they did clearly stating how the discount was valid. He the stated how he needed to further verify this with his manager. At this point I felt frustrated at the level of security checks and questioned his actions. The discount was then applied. The manager then checked my membership cards followed by asking for my full name and telephone number, whilst scribbling it on a piece of paper. I found this strange, as the cards have all of our personal details within them. This visit to the leisure centre was well below expectations and even after speaking to staff at the end of our session; there seemed to be confusion over session rates. The no shoe policy is a great idea within the pool changing rooms. It would be even better if the floor was clean for bare feet, especially after a swim and shower. There seemed to be plentiful staff to swimmers so surely this could improve?

Negative experience: Absolutely ridiculous. Went there for the 10am session with 3 children, 6, 5 and a 20 month old. Got there 9:45 waited in the queue until 10, when told only 3 tickets left and we can't go in. There were only 3 people in front of us, single parents with 1 child each. In that 15 minutes we waited, surely that 2 receptionist should have counted that they have 9 tickets left. They didn't apologies nothing, just looked at me and kept saying we only have 3 tickets left, I can come back for the 12 o'clock session. Now I have 3 sad children, who they don't understand why we can't go swimming... horrendous.

Positive experience: It's a very decent gym with great service and friendly atmosphere, could do with an expansion and some new gear!

Fantastic experience: A very adequate leisure centre which does not charge too much. Staff very helpful and nice.

Fantastic experience: nice place lots of variety of things swimming gym classes etc food is nice and not to expensive

Fantastic experience: A great children's pool, which the kids love. Particularly when the there is a wet and wild session, this is when there are sprays going into the pool and the slide is open. Great fun!

Fantastic experience: good facilities.

Fantastic experience: My son going for lesson swimming and he is so happy go there nice place

Fantastic experience: 10/10 :)

Negative experience: Female life gaurd seemed permanently on edge and told our boys off for throwing balls belonging to the centre, also water slide was not operating.

Positive experience: Helpful friendly staff with plenty to do for the whole family

Positive experience: The equipment is good but there are problems with the TV element which really does help with the bordum of repitition workouts.

Fantastic experience: I swim here pretty much everyday & gym a few times a week, the pool is always lovely and clean, it has its days where you can't really swim laps, because it's so busy, then others where me and my husband have been the only 2 in the pool, which is always a bonus. The gym has a good selection of cardio machines and weights. Again sometimes hustling then sometimes you can pick and choose what you want to do. Showers are usually nice and warm, changing rooms are clean and have lots of space, single and family cubicles, lots of lockers. Staff in all areas are friendly and helpful. Only down side to the pool area, and it's not the centres fault, but the amount of people that come straight from getting changed and get in the pool without rinsing is disgusting, same for people coming out the sauna and getting straight in the pool before rinsing in the shower... Yuk maybe a bigger sign could be put up about hygiene.

Positive experience: Not enough changing rooms in the swimming pool which means standing and waiting with a cold child after there swimming lesson. But staff are always friendly.

Fantastic experience: Love coming here to do some swimming for just £4 a time which is good if you want to go there one evening for a relax and swim.

Fantastic experience: My favourite playground

Positive experience: Has most of what you would need

Fantastic experience: Cool place with excellent and varied facilities.

Fantastic experience: AMAZING

Fantastic experience: Great leisure centre. So many activities you can do. We do baby swim in the shallow pool and it really gives them confidence in the water. Very reasonable price to.

Positive experience: Nice poole , great slide but a little tame.

Positive experience: I used the sport's hall for badminton the floor was very good but the lighting makes it hard to see the shuttle.

Fantastic experience: Very friendly and helpful staff. Good facilities and good value.

Positive experience: A nice swimming pool. Little pool is quite warm & good for babies. Changing areas are kept clean. 4 baby change / family cubicles. Snacks and drinks available with seating to watch the pool. All reasonably priced.

Fantastic experience: Good pool to teach your kids to swim

Fantastic experience: Lovely small pool and super clean changing room, can get busy though.

Positive experience: Nice place for keep fit

Positive experience: Child friendly ,good value .

Positive experience: Dirty and old... baby pool good for tiny ones. Slide never been open that I have seen.

Fantastic experience: Really friendly and helpful

Fantastic experience: Fantastic Zumba, and dance fit classes taken by Clare.who is always happy and helpful. The pool is really good and nice and clean.

Positive experience: Blandfords only public swimming pool.

Fantastic experience: Great for a few hours out

Fantastic experience: Friendly staff and the classed are very good

Positive experience: Nice.little sports centre

Fantastic experience: A fab place to swim. The water slides are an added plus!

Positive experience: Just joined the gym. Very friendly staff. Great pool good gym. The only down side to this is the changing rooms only have two showers in them.

Fantastic experience: I think it has a lot to offer . Clean and friendly.

Positive experience: The installations are fine and there are lots of classes.

Positive experience: Well maintained, albeit the water slides and toys are never operational?

Negative experience: Pool was freezing! After getting out we decided to warm up with a hot drink and snacks for the kids, it took 20 minutes of waiting at the counter while the staff talked before we got served! There was no one else in here so was hardly like they were rushed off their feet. Absolutely shocking!

Negative experience: Had to leave the swimming pool because a very young and inexperienced life guard thought my 8 year old daughter, who has been swimming there regularly for over a year, wasn't a strong enough swimmer! Very poor manager support too.

Fantastic experience: loverly